UNIVERSITY  OF 
fSORTH  CAROUNA 


,■*-.-._•.-,. 


feckoal  »t   Libi»*y 

JH 


/    J 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hil 


http://www.archive.org/details/auntfannysstorybfanny 


This  is  little  Annie  Browne. 


'S 


IT 


CSV 


NEW-YORK : 

D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  BROADWAY. 


AUNT  FANNY'S 


STORY    BOOK, 


LITTLE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. 


NEW-YORK 
MPA 

1852. 


D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  200  BROADWAY. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849,  by 

D.   APPLETON   &   COMPANY, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District 
of  New-York. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

To  the  Little  Girls  and  Boys, 5 

The  Christmas  Party, 7 

The  Spider,  .  21 

The  Mischievous  Boys,      .         .  26 

The  Brothers, 34 

Annie  Browne, 48 

The  Three  Bears, 55 

About  Minding  Quickly, 62 

The  Twins, 71 

The  Little  Boy  that  was  afraid  of  the  Water,         ...        80 

The  May  Queen, 87 

The  Apple  Dumpling, 98 

The  Dentist, 105 

The  Wig, Ill 

The  Boys'  School, 118 


TO  THE  LITTLE  GIRLS  AND  BOYS. 

Once  on  a  time,  tliere  lived  a  little  bit  of  a 
lady  who  had  a  great  many  nephews  and  nieces. 
She  was  very  little  indeed,  so  all  the  children 
loved  her,  and  said  she  was  the  best  little  auntie 
in  the  world,  and  exactly  the  right  size  to  play 
with  them  and  tell  them  stories.  Sometimes 
she  told  them  interesting  stories  about  George 
Washington,  and  other  great  and  good  men; 
sometimes  tunny  stories,  about  Frizzlefits  and 
Monsieur  Pop,  and  sometimes  she  would  make 
them  nearly  die  laughing  with  stories  about  the 
Dutchman,  Hansansvanansvananderdansvaniede- 
neidendiesandeusan. 


6  TO   THE   LITTLE   BOYS   AND   GIKLS. 

At  last,  one  day,  one  of  her  nieces  said  to 
her,  "  Dear  Auntie,  do  write  some  stories,  and 
put  them  in  a  book  for  us  to  read,  and  keep,  as 
long  as  we  live." 

The  little  Aunt  thought  this  was  a  very  good 
plan,  and  here  are  the  stories,  dear  little  children, 
for  all  of  you.  If  you  like  them,  just  let  me 
know,  and  you  shall  have  some  more  next  year 
from 

Aunt  Faniht. 


THE  CHRISTMAS  PARTY. 

Me.  and  Mrs.  Percy  had  seven  grandchildren, 
all  very  pretty  and  very  good.  These  children 
did  not  all  have  the  same  father  and  mother,  that 
is,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Percy's  eldest  son  had  three 
children,  whose  names  were  Mary,  and  Carry, 
and  Thomas ;  and  one  of  their  daughters  was 
married,  and  had  three  children;  their  names 
were  Willy,  and  Bella,  and  Fanny;  and  their 
youngest  son  was  married  and  had  one  child. 
Her  name  was  Sarah.  She  was  the  youngest  of 
the  children,  and  they  all  loved  her  very  much, 
and  her  Grandma  made  a  great  pet  of  her. 

The  children  and  their  parents  had  been  in- 
vited to  eat  a  Christmas  dinner  with  their  Grand- 
ma, and  they  had  been  promised  a  little  dance  in 


8  AUNT   FANNY'S 

the  evening.  Even  little  Sarah  was  to  go,  and 
stay  to  the  Ball,  as  she  called  it.  They  were 
glad ;  for  they  liked  to  go  to  their  dear  Grandma's 
very  ranch. 

At  last  Christmas  came.  It  was  a  bright, 
frosty  day ;  the  icicles  that  hung  from  the  iron 
railing  sparkled  as  the  sun  shone  upon  them,  and 
the  little  boys  in  the  streets  made  sliding  ponds 
of  the  gutters,  and  did  not  mind  a  bit  when  they 
came  down  on  their  backs,  but  jumped  up  and 
tried  it  again;  and  a  great  many  people  were 
hurrying  along  with  large  turkeys  to  cook  for 
their  Christmas  dinner,  and  every  body  looked 
very  happy  indeed. 

After  these  children,  about  whom  I  am  telling 
you,  came  back  from  church,  they  were  dressed 
very  nicely,  and  although  they  lived  in  three  dif- 
ferent houses,  they  all  got  to  their  Grandma's  very 
nearly  at  the  same  time.  The  first  thing  they 
did  was  to  run  up  to  their  Grandma,  and  wish 
her  a  merry  Christmas,  and  kiss  her,  and  say  that 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  9 

they  hoped,  she  felt  quite  well.  Then  they  did 
the  same  to  their  Grandpa  and  Aunties,  for  they 
had  two  dear,  kind  aunts  who  lived  with  their 
Grandparents.  Then  they  all  hugged  and  kissed 
each  other,  and  jumped  about  so  much,  that  some 
kissed  noses  and  some  kissed  chins,  and  little 
Sarah  was  almost  crazy  with  delight,  for  she  had 
never  been  to  so  large  a  party  before. 

"  Grandma,"  said  Willy,  "  I  hung  up  my 
stocking  last  night,  and  what  do  you  thing  I  got 
in  it?" 

His  Grandma  guessed  that  he  got  a  birch 
rod. 

"  No,"  said  Willy,  laughing,  "  I  got  a  dough- 
nut in  the  shape  of  a  monkey  with  a  long  tail. 
I  eat  the  monkey  for  my  breakfast,  and  it  was 
very  good  indeed." 

The  children  all  laughed  at  this,  and  Bella, 
Willy's  sister,  who  was  the  oldest  of  all  the  chil- 
dren, said  she  thought  Willy  had  a  monkey  look 
about  him.  So  he  went  by  the  name  of  the 
monkey-eater  for  the  rest  of  the  day. 


10  AUNT   FANNY'S 

Soon  the  bell  rang  for  dinner,  and  they  all 
went  down  stairs ;  for  the  children  and  grown 
people  were  to  dine  together.  It  was  now  quite 
dark,  and  the  gas  chandelier  that  hung  over  the 
table  was  lighted,  the  curtains  were  drawn  close, 
the  fire  burnt  brightly,  and  the  table-cloth  was 
so  white  and  fine  that  it  looked  like  satin. 

The  happy  party  sat  down  at  a  large  round 
table,  and  the  children's  eyes  looked  so  bright 
and  their  cheeks  so  rosy,  that  it  was  the  pleas- 
antest  sight  in  the  world  to  see.  Little  Sarah 
could  not  help  having  a  great  many  little  laughs 
all  to  herself.  She  could  not  keep  them  in.  She 
was  only  four  years  old,  so  you  may  suppose  she 
could  not  look  very  grave  and  stiff  on  such  a 
delightful  occasion. 

When  Willy  saw  his  little  cousin  Sarah  try- 
ing to  hide  her  sparkling  eyes,  and  her  funny  little 
laugh  behind  her  mother's  arm,  he  felt  just  as  if 
somebody  was  tickling  him.  So  he  pinched  his 
lips  together  very  tight  indeed,  and  cast  his  eyes 


CHEISTMAS   STOKEES.  11 

up  to  the  ceiling,  and  tried  to  look  as  grave  as  a 
judge.  But  it  would  not  do ;  he  burst  out  into 
such  a  fit  of  laughing,  that  every  body  else  laugh- 
ed too,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  they  could 
get  their  faces  straight  enough  to  eat  their  dinner. 
Would  you  like  to  know  what  they  had  for 
dinner?  "Well,  I  will  tell  you.  After  their 
Grandpa  had  asked  a  blessing,  they  had  some 
very  nice  soup.  The  children  did  not  care  for 
soup.  Then  they  had  a  fish  stuffed  with  all  sorts 
of  things,  and  stewed,  and  the  grown  people  said 
the  fish  was  very  nice ;  but  the  little  ones  did  not 
care  for  that  either.  Then  they  had  some  roast 
beef  and  a  boiled  turkey  with  oysters.  The  chil- 
dren all  took  turkey ;  Willy  asked  for  a  drum- 
stick, and  his  cousin  Mary  said  he  wanted  it  to 
beat  the  monkey  he  eat  in  the  morning.  Bella 
chose  a  merry-thought ;  little  Sarah  liked  a  hug- 
me-fast ;  Carry  took  a  wishing-bone ;  Thomas 
said  he  would  have  the  other  drum-stick  to  help 
beat  the  monkey,  and  Fanny  thanked  her  Grand- 


12 

ma  for  a  wing,  so  that  she  could  fly  away  when 
the  beating  of  the  monkey  took  place. 

But  this  was  not  half  the  good  things,  for 
they  afterwards  had  some  delicious  game,  such  as 
partridges,  and  woodcocks,  and  some  fried  oysters. 
All  this  pleased  the  grown  people  most.  The 
children  saved  their  appetites  for  the  dessert. 
Well,  after  this  the  cloth  was  taken  off,  and  under 
that  was  another  table-cloth  just  as  white  and 
fine  as  the  first. 

Then  came  something  that  was  quite  astonish- 
ing. What  do  you  think  it  was  ?  It  was  a  great 
plum-pudding  all  on  fire !  it  blazed  away  terribly, 
and  Willy  thought  they  had  better  send  for  the 
fire-engines  to  put  it  out ;  but  it  was  blown  out 
very  easily,  and  the  children  each  had  a  very 
small  piece,  because  it  was  too  rich  to  eat  much 
of,  and  their  parents  did  not  wish  them  to  get 
sick. 

After  that  there  came  ice-cream,  and  jellies, 
and  sweetmeats,  that  were  perfectly  delicious; 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  13 

and  then  the  other  white  cloth  was  taken  off,  and 
under  that  was  a  beautiful  red  one.  Then  the 
servants  put  on  the  table  what  the  children  liked 
best  of  all,  and  that  was  a  dish  of  fine  mottoes, 
and  oranges  and  grapes  and  other  nice  fine  fruits. 
The  children  sent  the  mottoes  to  each  other, 
and  had  a  great  deal  of  sport.  Some  one  sent 
Willy  this : 

"  Oh  "William,  "William,  'tis  quite  plain  to  see 
That  all  your  life,  you  will  a  monkey  be." 

He  thought  his  cousin  Mary  had  sent  it,  because 
he  saw  that  she  was  trying  very  hard  to  look 
grave — so  he  sent  this  to  her : 

"  Dear  Mary,  you  are  too  severe, 
You  are  too  bad,  I  do  declare ; 
Your  motto  has  upset  me  quite, 
I  shan't  get  over  it  to-night." 

Mary  laughed  when  she  read  it,  and  said  she  had 
been  just  as  cruel  to  Thomas,  for  she  had  sent 
him  this — 


14  AUNT   FANNYS 

"  The  rose  is  red,  the  violet  blue, 
The  grass  is  green  and  so  are  you." 

They  had  a  good  laugh  at  Thomas,  but  as  he 
laughed  as  hard  as  any  one,  it  did  no  harm.  Little 
Sarah  had  a  great  many  mottoes.  Her  Mamma 
read  them  to  her,  and  it  pleased  her  very  much. 
She  said  it  was  a  very  nice  play,  but  she  was 
tired  with  sitting  such  a  long  time  at  table,  so 
her  Mother  let  her  slip  down  from  her  chair. 

Very  soon  all  the  rest  got  up,  and  went  up 
stairs  in  the  parlor.  But  what  was  that  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  ?  It  seemed  to  be  a  large 
table  covered  all  over  with  a  cloth.  "What  could 
it  be  ?  Willy  said,  "  Grandma,  that  table  looks 
as  if  something  was  on  it ;"  and  little  Sarah  said, 
"  Grandma,  I  guess  Santa  Claus  has  been  here." 

"Yes,  dear  children,"  said  their  Grandma, 
"Santa  Claus  has  been  here,  and  this  time  he 
looked  very  much  like  your  Grandpa.  He  will 
be  up  soon,  and  then  we  will  see  what  is  on  the 
table." 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  15 

Oh  how  the  children  did  wish  to  peep! 
They  could  not  look  at  any  thing  else;  they 
danced  and  jumped  round  the  table,  and  were  in 
a  great  hurry  for  their  Grandpa.  In  a  few  min- 
utes he  came  into  the  room,  and  all  the  children 
ran  up  to  him  and  said,  "  Dear  Grandpa,  do  let 
us  see  what  you  have  got  on  the  table." 

He  smiled,  and  went  to  the  table  and  took 
the  cloth  off.  The  children  were  so  astonished 
that  they  could  not  say  a  single  word ;  the  table 
was  covered  with  beautiful  things,  and  under  it 
was  something  that  looked  like  a  little  red-brick 
house. 

"  Well,"  said  their  kind  Grandpa,  "  my  dear 
children,  you  did  not  think  you  were  going  to 
be  treated  to  such  a  fine  show  as  this ;  you  may 
go  up  to  the  table,  and  see  if  you  can  find  out 
who  they  are  for."  The  children  gathered  round 
the  table,  and  Willy  took  from  the  top  a  fine 
brig  with  all  her  sails  set,  and  colors  flying.  His 
eyes  sparkled  when  he  saw  written  on  a  slip  of 


16  AUNT   FANNY'S 

paper  which  lay  on  the  deck,  these  words ;  "  For 
my  dear  Willy."  The  children  clapped  then- 
hands,  and  nothing  was  heard,  but  "  How  beauti- 
ful !"  "  What  a  fine  ship  !"  "  It  is  a  brig  of  war," 
said  Willy :  "  only  look  at  the  little  brass  guns  on 
her  deck !  thank  you,  dear  Grandpa ;  it  will  shoot 
all  the  enemies  of  America !  What  is  the  name 
of  my  ship  f 

"  Her  name  is  painted  on  her  stern,"  said  his 
Grandpa.  Willy  looked  and  saw  that  she  was 
called  the  "Louisa."  He  blushed,  and  looked 
very  funny,  and  the  other  children  laughed,  for 
Willy  knew  a  very  pretty  little  girl,  whose  name 
was  Louisa,  and  he  liked  her  very  much ;  and 
that  was  what  made  them  laugh  when  they  heard 
the  name. 

After  they  had  all  admired  the  brig,  they  went 
back  to  the  table,  and  there  were  two  beautiful 
books,  full  of  engravings  or  pictures,  one  for 
Bella  and  one  for  Mary ;  and  next  to  these  was  a 
large  wax  doll  for  Carry  and  another  for  Fauny. 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  17 

Carry's  doll  was  dressed  in  blue  satin,  with  a 
white  satin  hat  and  a  lace  veil,  and  Fanny's  doll 
was  dressed  in  pink  satin  with  a  black  velvet  hat 
and  feathers — their  eyes  opened  and  shut,  and 
they  had  beautiful  faces. 

How  delighted  the  little  girls  were !  They 
hugged  their  dolls  to  their  little  breasts,  and  then 
ran  to  hug  and  kiss  their  Grandpa.  Carry  said, 
"  My  dolly's  name  shall  be  Eose ;"  and  Fanny 
said,  "  My  dolly's  name  shall  be  Christmas,  be- 
cause I  got  her  on  Christmas  day." 

Well  I  must  hurry  and  tell  you  the  rest,  for  I 
am  afraid  my  story  is  getting  too  long.  Thomas 
found  for  him  a  splendid  menagerie,  and  all  the 
animals  made  noises  like  real  animals.  There 
were  roaring  lions,  and  yelling  tigers,  and  laugh- 
ing hyenas,  and  braying  asses,  and  chattering 
monkeys,  and  growling  bears,  and  many  other 
wild  beasts.  Oh  how  pleased  Thomas  was,  and 
all  the  children ! 

Little  Sarah  did  nothing  but  jump  up  and 


18  AUNT  FANNY'S 

down  and  say,  "  So  many  things !  So  many 
things !     I  never  saw  so  many  things !" 

But  who  was  to  have  the  little  house  under 
the  table,  I  wonder  ?  There  was  a  little  piece 
of  paper  sticking  out  of  the  chimney,  and  Sarah 
pulled  it  out  and  carried  it  to  her  Grandpa.  He 
took  her  up  in  his  arms  and  read  it  to  her.  "What 
was  written  on  it  was,  a  A  baby-house  for  my 
little  darling  Sarah." 

"  Why,  I  guess  this  must  be  for  you,"  said 
he. 

"  Yes,  it  is  for  me,"  said  the  little  girl ;  "  my 
name  is  Sarah,  and  it  must  be  for  me." 

Her  Grandpa  put  her  down,  and  led  her  to  the 
table.  He  drew  the  little  house  out,  and  opened 
it.  The  whole  front  of  the  house  opened,  and 
there,  inside,  were  two  rooms ;  one  was  a  parlor, 
and  one  a  bedroom.  The  children  all  cried  out, 
"  What  a  fine  baby-house !  Look  at  the  cen- 
tre-table, and  the  red  velvet  chairs ;  and  only  see 
the  elegant  curtains !  Oh  dear !  how  beautiful 
it  is!" 


CHRISTMAS   STOEIES.  19 

Little  Sarah  did  not  say  a  word.  She  stood 
before  the  baby-house  with  her  hands  stretched 
out,  and  jumped  up  and  down,  her  eyes  shining 
like  diamonds.  She  was  too  much  pleased  to 
speak.  She  looked  so  funny  jumping  up  and 
down  all  the  time,  that  she  made  Willy  laugh 
again,  and  then  every  body  laughed. 

At  last  she  said,  "  There  is  a  young  lady  sit- 
ting in  the  chair  with  a  red  sash  on.  I  think  she 
wants  to  come  out." 

"Well,  you  may  take  her  out,"  said  hei 
Grandpa.  So  Sarah  took  the  young  lady  out,  and 
then  took  up  the  chairs  and  sofa,  onr  by  one,  and 
smoothed  the  velvet,  and  looked  at  the  little 
clock  on  the  mantel-piece,  and  opened  the  little 
drawers  of  the  bureau ;  and  then  putting  them 
down,  she  began  to  jump  again. 

There  was  never  such  a  happy  party  before. 
The  children  hardly  wished  to  dance,  they  were 
so  busy  looking  at  their  presents.  But  after  a 
little  while  they  had  a  very  nice  dance.    One  of 


20  AUNT   FANNY'S 

their  aunts  played  for  them ;  she  played  so  well, 
and  kept  such  nice  time,  that  it  was  quite  a  plea- 
sure to  hear  her. 

It  was  now  quite  late,  and  little  Sarah  had 
fallen  fast  asleep  on  the  sofa,  with  the  young  lady 
out  of  the  baby-house  clasped  tight  to  her  little 
bosom.  So  they  wrapped  her  up,  doll  and  all,  in 
a  great  shawl,  and  the  rest  put  on  their  nice 
warm  coats  and  cloaks ;  and  after  a  great  deal  of 
hugging  and  kissing,  they  got  into  the  carriages 
with  their  parents,  and  went  home  happy  and 
delighted. 

Thus  ended  this  joyful  Christmas  day. 


CHKISTMAS   STOEIES.  21 


THE  SPIDER. 

Little  Harry  was  afraid  of  spiders.  He 
would  scream  and  run  to  get  into  his  Mother's 
lap,  if  he  saw  the  least  spider  in  the  world. 

The  reason  he  was  so  afraid  was,  that  his 
nurse,  when  he  was  a  very  little  fellow,  had  told 
him  very  often,  that  if  he  did  not  go  to  sleep, 
she  would  catch  a  spider  and  put  it  on  him. 
ISTow  this  was  very  wicked  indeed  in  the  nurse, 
and  when  his  Mother  found  out  that  she  had 
been  telling  Harry  this,  she  was  very  angry,  and 
sent  her  directly  out  of  the  house. 

Harry's  Mother  had  tried  very  hard  to  cure 
him  of  his  foolish  fears  about  spiders ;  but  he  did 
not  get  over  them,  and  they  often  made  him 
miserable. 

One  day  Harry  went  with  his  Mother  to  visit 


22  aunt  fancy's 

a  friend.  This  lady  had  a  little  daughter  about 
two  years  old,  a  very  pretty  and  good-humored 
child.  She  was  sitting  on  the  carpet  when 
Harry  came  in,  playing  with  a  little  woolly  dog 
and  making  it  bark.  She  knew  Harry,  for  he 
had  been  there  before  with  his  Mother.  So  she 
held  the  dog  out  to  him  and  said,  "  Turn  here, 
Henny."  She  could  not  speak  plain,  and  what 
she  said  sounded  very  funny. 

Harry  sat  down  on  the  carpet  by  her,  and 
took  the  dog,  and  made  it  say,  abow  wow 
wow !" 

Little  Mary  laughed  and  clapped  her  hands, 
and  said,  "  Do  it  aden,  Henny." 

So  Harry  pressed  the  spring  again,  and  made 
the  dog  say,  "  bow  wow  wow,"  when  just  as  he 
was  going  to  give  it  back  to  little  Mary,  she 
stooped  down,  and  cried,  "  Look,  look,  Henny, 
what  a  pretty  little  'pider,  only  see  the  little 
'pider." 

Harry  threw  down  the  dog,  and  began  to 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  23 

scream  with  all  his  might.  He  ran  to  his  Mother 
and  hid  his  face  on  her  shoulder,  and  cried,  "  Take 
it  away !    Oh  take  it  away !" 

All  this  time  little  Mary  had  been  looking  at 
him  with  surprise.  She  did  not  cry,  for  she  was 
not  afraid  of  the  poor  spider.  It  was  of  the 
kind  that  children  call  a  '  daddy  long-legs,'  and 
Mary  thought  it  was  very  funny  to  see  it  strad- 
dling over  the  carpet,  trying  to  get  away  as  fast 
as  it  could. 

"Oh  Harry!  for  shame,"  said  his  Mother; 
"  why,  which  is  the  biggest — the  spider  or  you  ? 
Only  see — little  Mary  is  laughing  at  you." 

Henry  raised  his  head  from  his  Mother's 
shoulder,  and  looked  at  Mary.  He  stopped  crying, 
and  began  to  feel  ashamed.  He  saw  the  spider 
crawling  over  little  Mary's  frock,  and  she  sat 
quite  still,  and  let  it  go  just  where  it  wanted  to 
go.  His  Mother  said  to  him,  "  Go,  Harry,  and 
count  the  long  legs  of  the  spider,  and  see  if  you 
can  find  his  mouth — it  cannot  hurt  you." 


24  AUNT  FANOTS 

But  Harry  trembled,  and  said  lie  did  not 
want  to  go  near  it,  he  would  not  touch  it  for  any- 
thing. His  Mother  was  not  angry  with  him,  for 
she  knew  he  had  tried  to  overcome  his  fears,  and 
he  could  not  help  them ;  she  knew  it  was  the 
fault  of  the  wicked  nurse,  who  had  made  him 
suffer  all  this  pain.  So  she  took  his  hand  and 
wiped  the  tears  from  his  cheeks,  and  went  home 
with  him. 

As  Harry  grew  older,  he  was  not  so  much 
afraid  of  spiders,  but  he  never  could  bear  to  see 
one  near  him ;  even  when  he  was  a  great  boy  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  he  would  get  away 
from  a  spider  as  fast  as  he  could.  He  knew  it 
was  foolish,  and  tried  to  overcome  his  fears,  but 
he  never  got  entirely  over  them. 

Parents  cannot  be  too  watchful  or  careful 
about  their  nurses,  for  sometimes  a  thoughtless 
or  wicked  nurse,  will  do  worse  things  to  a  child 
than  Harry's  nurse  did  to  him.  If  parents 
would  forbid  nurses  when  they  are  first  employed 


CHRISTMAS   STOKIES.  25 

from  saying  or  doing  the  least  thing  to  frighten 
their  children,  many  a  poor  little  victim  would 
be  saved  a  great  deal  of  present  and  future 
misery. 


26  AUNT  FANNY'S 


THE  MISCHIEVOUS  BOYS. 

"  Hokace,  come  up  stairs  with  me  into  Uncle 
James's  room,"  said  Edward  one  day  to  his 
brother. 

Horace  took  hold  of  Edward's  hand,  and 
they  ran  up  stairs  together.  When  they  got  into 
their  Uncle's  room,  they  shut  the  door.  There 
was  nobody  in  the  room  but  the  two  little  boys ; 
so  Edward  thought  it  was  a  fine  chance  to  do 
some  mischief.  He  began  to  open  all  the 
drawers,  and  look  at  the  things  that  were  in 
them;  he  took  out  a  bottle  that  was  full  of 
cologne  water,  and  calling  Horace  to  him,  he 
poured  it  all  out,  some  of  it  on  his  brother's  hair 
and  some  on  his  own.  Their  hair  was  all  wet 
with  the  cologne,  an<)  it  ran  down  their  faces. 


CHEISTMAS   STOELES.  27 

After  lie  had  done  this,  he  saw  a  pair  of 
scissors  in  the  same  drawer. 

"  Sit  down,  Horace,"  said  he,  "  and  I  will  cut 
your  hair  for  you :  it  wants  cutting  very  much." 

Horace  was  a  little  fellow ;  he  was  only  three 
years  old ;  but  Edward  was  six  years  old,  and 
knew  better  than  to  be  doing  all  this  mischief. 

Horace  sat  down  and  Edward  cut  his  hair  all 
over.  He  cut  bunches  out  in  different  parts, 
close  to  his  head,  and  made  it  look  frightful,  but 
he  said,  "  Dear  me !  how  nice  you  look !  now 
you  cut  my  hair." 

So  Horace  cut  Edward's  hair,  and  almost  cut 
off  his  ears,  and  hardly  left  any  hair  on  his  head. 

After  that,  this  naughty  boy  Edward  took  his 
Uncle's  best  coat  out  of  the  drawer  and  put  it  on. 
The  tails  of  the  coat  dragged  on  the  ground,  and 
it  made  Horace  laugh  very  much  to  see  his 
brother  marching  round,  with  the  tails  of  the 
coat  dragging  on  the  ground. 

When  he  was  tired  of  wearing  the  coat,  he 


28  aunt  fanny's 

took  it  off.  He  did  not  put  it  back  in  the 
drawer,  but  threw  it  on  the  floor,  where  all  the 
hair  was,  that  he  and  his  brother  had  cut. 

Presently  he  ran  to  the  wash-stand.  He 
lifted  the  pitcher.  It  was  full  of  water,  and  very- 
heavy,  and  he  spilled  some  of  the  water  on  the 
carpet.  Then  he  poured  out  the  water  into  the 
slop-jar,  which  stood  by  the  side  of  the  wash- 
stand,  and  in  doing  it,  he  spilled  the  water  all 
round  the  outside  of  the  slop-jar  and  wet  the 
carpet. 

Did  you  ever  hear  of  such  a  naughty  boy 
before  ?  But  this  is  not  half  as  bad  as  what  I 
am  now  going  to  tell  you. 

Little  Horace  had  done  just  as  he  saw  his 
brother  do — for  little  boys  will  always  follow  the 
example  of  their  older  brothers.  If  any  little 
boy  reads  this,  that  has  a  brother  younger  than 
himself,  I  hope  he  will  remember  this,  and  try  to 
set  his  little  brother  a  good  example. 

"Well,  as  I  was  telling  you,  Horace  opened 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  29 

the  drawer  of  the  wash-stand,  and  took  out  a 
box  of  tooth-powder,  and  then  he  got  a  glove  out 
of  another  drawer,  and  then  he  wet  the  glove 
and  dipped  it  in  the  tooth-powder.  Some  of  the 
powder  stuck  to  the  glove,  and  with  this  he 
began  to  rub  the  brass  tops  of  the  tongs  and  poker. 

"Only  see,  Edward,"  cried  he,  "how  nice 
this  cleans  the  brass !  I  am  rubbing  it,  just  as  I 
saw  Jenny  do,  and  I  am  making  it  look  so  clean 
and  bright !  don't  it  make  it  bright,  Edward  V 

"  Oh  yes !  very  bright,"  said  Edward,  "  but 
only  look  here,  what  I  have  found !  a  beautiful 
razor !  oh  my !  how  sharp  it  is !  Uncle  James 
shaves  with  it  every  morning.  I'll  tell  you  a 
first-rate  play,  Horace.  I  will  be  a  barber,  and 
you  shall  come  to  me  to  be  shaved.  You  know 
I  will  only  make  believe ;  I  won't  really  shave 
you." 

"  Oh  that  will  be  fine,"  said  Horace,  throw- 
ing down  the  tooth-powder,  "  that  will  be  fine  ! 
Put  some  soap  on  my  face,  brother." 


30  AUNT   FANNY'S 

"  Yes,"  said  Edward,  "  I  will  make  a  great  lot 
of  soap-suds,  and  put  it  all  over  your  face.  Oh  ! 
won't  it  be  nice  ?  won't  it  be  a  grand  play  V 

So  saying,  he  got  out  the  shaving-brush,  and 
dipped  it  into  the  water  that  was  in  the  slop- 
iar,  and  rubbed  it  on  the  soap,  till  he  had  made 
a  great  lather.  He  called  it  soap-suds,  and  then 
he  put  it  all  over  Horace's  face  with  the  brush, 
and  made  him  look  like  a  fright. 

Then  this  naughty  boy  took  the  sharp  and 
shining  razor,  and  began  to  shave  the  soap  off 
his  face.  At  first  he  only  took  the  soap  off,  but 
the  next  time  he  took  off  a  piece  of  the  skin 
from  Horace's  face. 

The  little  boy  said,  "  Oh,  Edward !  you  hurt 
me.  I  don't  want  to  be  shaved  any  more !  It 
isn't  a  good  play  at  all !" 

"  Don't  be  a  coward,"  said  Edward ;  "  it 
always  hurts  to  be  shaved ;  come,  let  me  do  it 
once  more." 

Horace  was  not  afraid  of  a  little  pain,  and  he 


CHEISTMAS   STOKIES.  31 

did  not  like  to  be  called  a  coward.  He  believed 
what  his  brother  told  him.  So  he  held  up  his 
face,  and  Edward  began  again  to  scrape  off  the 
lather ;  but  this  time  Horace  moved  just  as  he 
put  the  razor  on  his  face,  and  it  took  the  skin 
all  off  of  his  cheek. 

It  began  to  bleed  terribly,  and  smarted  so 
much,  that  Horace  screamed,  and  ran  out  of  the 
room,  and  down  stairs  into  the  kitchen  where  his 
Mother  was. 

She  was  very  much  frightened  when  she  saw 
the  little  boy  with  his  face  covered  with  blood 
and  lather,  and  cried, 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  my  child  ? 
What  have  you  been  doing  V 

"  Oh,  Mamma !"  said  he,  crying  bitterly, 
"  Edward  has  been  shaving  me,  and  I  am  all  cut 
to  pieces — Oh !  how  it  hurts  me — will  it  kill  me, 
Mamma  f 

His  Mother  got  some  water  quickly  and  wash- 
ed his  face.    She  saw  that  he  was  very  much  cut. 


32 

She  was  very  sorry  indeed,  and  tied  up  Ms  face, 
and  did  every  thing  she  could  think  of,  to  relieve 
the  pain.  But  it  hurt  him  very  much  all  that 
day  and  the  next. 

"When  Edward  came  down  stairs,  he  was 
afraid  to  come  where  his  Mother  was,  because  he 
knew  he  had  been  a  very  naughty  boy,  and  he 
was  sure  she  would  punish  him.  So  he  went  and 
hid  himself  under  the  bed. 

His  Mother  called,  "Edward!  Edward!"  but 
he  was  afraid  to  come.  So  she  had  to  hunt  for 
him,  and  found  him  all  curled  up  as  small  as 
possible  under  the  bed. 

"  Come  out  instantly,"  said  his  Mother. 

Edward  crept  out  and  began  to  cry,  and  beg 
his  Mother  not  to  punish  him,  but  his  Mother 
said: 

"  Edward,  you  knew  you  were  doing  wrong 
when  you  got  your  uncle's  razors  to  play  with, 
and  if  I  do  not  punish  you,  you  will  always  be 
doing  mischief,  and  grow  up  to  be  a  very  bad 
man-" 


CHRISTMAS   STOEIES.  33 

So  his  Mother  took  a  birch-rod  out  of  the 
closet,  and  gave  Edward  a  very  severe  whipping ; 
so  severe  that  he  remembered  it  for  a  long  time, 
and  although  after  a  great  while  he  forgot,  and 
sometimes  was  tempted  to  do  wrong,  he  never 
wanted  to  play  barber  again,  or  make  believe 
shave  any  body  with  a  razor. 


34 


THE  BROTHERS. 

One  day  Henry  came  bounding  home  from 
school,  his  face  beaming  with  joy.  He  was  head 
of  his  class,  and  he  held  fast  in  his  hand  a  fine 
silver  medal,  which  had  been  awarded  to  him  for 
good  behavior. 

"  Oh !"  said  he  to  himself  as  he  ran  along, 
"  how  happy  this  will  make  my  dear  Mother.  I 
know  she  will  kiss  me ;  perhaps  she  will  kiss  me 
five  or  six  times,  and  call  me  her  dear,  dear  boy. 
Oh !  how  I  love  my  Mother." 

He  ran  up  the  steps  of  the  house  where  he 
lived  as  he  said  this,  and  pulled  the  bell  very  hard, 
for  he  was  in  a  great  hurry.  His  Father  opened 
the  door.  "  Hush !  Henry,"  said  he,  "  come  in 
very  softly,  your  Mother  is  very  sick." 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  35 

"  My  Mother !  Dear  Father,  what  is  the  mat- 
ter with  her  ?  May  I  go  in  to  her  if  I  will  step 
very  •softly  V 

"No,"  said  his  Father,  "you  must  not  see 
her  now ;  you  must  be  very  still  indeed.  I  see, 
my  dear  boy,  that  you  have  been  rewarded  for 
good  conduct  in  school ;  I  am  glad  that  I  have  so 
good  a  son.  And  now,  Henry,  I  know  you  love 
your  Mother  so  much,  that  you  will  promise  me 
to  be  very  still,  and  wait  patiently  until  she  is 
able  to  see  you."  As  he  said  this,  he  drew  Henry 
close  to  him,  and  smoothed  down  his  long  curling 
hair,  and  kissed  his  cheek. 

Henry  Ihrew  his  arms  around  his  Father's 
neck,  and  promised  him,  and  then  putting  away 
his  medal,  he  went  softly  on  tiptoe  up  to  his  play- 
room, and  shutting  the  door,  began  to  work  on  a 
sloop  that  he  was  rigging.  He  did  not  get  on 
very  fast,  for  he  could  not  help  thinking  of  his 
dear  Mother,  and  wishing  he  could  see  her.  She 
had  hemmed  all  the  sails  of  the  sloop  for  him, 


36  aunt  fanny's 

and  he  was  going  to  name  it  the  "  Eliza,"  after 
her. 

The  next  morning,  Susan,  the  old  nurse, 
knocked  very  early  at  the  door  of  the  room  where 
Henry  slept.  "  Master  Henry,"  said  she,  "  what 
do  you  think  happened  last  night  V 

"  What  did  ?"  said  Henry,  sitting  up  in  the 
bed ;  "  is  my  Mother  better  |9 

"  Yes,  she  is  better,"  replied  Susan,  "  but  do 
guess  what  has  come.  Something  that  you  have 
wished  for  very  often.  Something  you  can  play 
with,  and  take  care  of,  and  love  more  than  you 
love  your  dog  Hector." 

a  Is  it  alive  V  said  Henry. 

"Yes,"  replied  Susan,  "it  is  alive,  and  in 
your  mother's  room." 

"  Can  it  be  a  brother,  a  real  live  brother  P 
cried  Henry,  jumping  out  of  bed,  and  running 
up  to  Susan. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  brother,  a  real  live  brother,"  said 
Susan,  laughing. 


CHEISTMAS    STOEIES.  37 

"  I Ve  got  a  brother,  I've  got  a  brother,  a  real 
brother !"  shouted  Henry,  running  up  and  down 
the  room,  clapping  his  hands,  jumping  over  the 
chairs,  and  making  a  terrible  noise,  for  in  his  joy- 
he  hardly  knew  what  he  was  about. 

"  Oh  hush,  Master  Henry !"  said  Susan. 
"  What  a  crazy  little  fellow  !"  your  Mother  is 
still  very  ill.  Now  dress  yourself  quickly  and 
quietly,  and  you  shall  see  your  little  brother." 

Henry  trembled  with  joy,  and  in  his  haste  he 
put  his  feet  into  the  arms  of  his  jacket,  and  his 
arms  into  the  legs  of  his  trousers ;  but  after  a 
while  he  managed  to  get  them  on  right,  and 
though  he  washed  his  face  and  hands  in  a  minute, 
and  brushed  his  hair  with  the  back  of  the  brush, 
yet  he  did  not  look  so  bad  as  you  might  suppose. 

He  went  very  softly  into  his  Mother's  room. 
It  was  darkened,  and  he  could  not  see  very  well. 
He  went  up  to  the  side  of  the  bed.  His  Mother 
smiled  and  said,  "  Come  here,  my  son."  Her 
face  was  pale,  but  it  had  a  very  happy  look,  for 
4 


38  AUNT   FANNY'S 

in  her  arms,  sweetly  sleeping,  was  the  little 
brother  that  Henry  had  longed  for.  He  had  a 
sister,  who  was  nearly  his  own  age,  but  he  had 
always  wished  for  a  brother,  and  the  brother 
had  come  at  last. 

"  Dear  Mother,  may  I  help  yon  take  care  of 
my  little  brother  V  said  Henry ;  "  yon  know  I  am 
strong  enough  to  hold  him.  I  would  not  let 
him  fall  for  the  world." 

"  Yes,  dear  boy,"  replied  his  Mother,  "  when 
he  is  a  little  older,  I  shall  have  a  great  deal  of 
comfort  in  trusting  this  dear  little  brother  with 
you.  It  is  more  necessary  now  than  ever,  my 
son,  that  you  should  try  always  to  be  good,  and 
to  set  a  good  example  before  your  brother.  He 
will  be  sure  to  do  just  as  you  do.  If  you  are  a 
good  boy,  you  will  be  a  good  man;  and  how 
happy  you  will  be,  when  you  are  grown  up,  to 
think  that  your  good  example  will  have  made 
your  brother  a  good  boy,  and  a  good  man  too. 
Now  kiss  me,  and  go  get  your  breakfast." 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  39 

Henry  kissed  his  Mother,  and  told  her  of  his 
good  conduct  in  school,  at  which  she  was  very 
glad,  and  then  stooping  down,  he  kissed  the  soft 
cheek  of  the  little  sleeping  baby,  and  went  gen- 
tly out  of  the  room. 

In  a  few  weeks,  his  Mother  got  quite  well, 
and  Charles  (that  was  the  baby's  name)  began 
to  laugh  and  play  with  his  brother.  Henry  was 
never  so  happy  as  when  he  was  with  Charles. 
He  always  put  him  to  sleep  at  night.  The  dear 
little  fellow  would  clasp  his  little  hand  tight 
round  one  of  Henry's  fingers,  and  fall  to  sleep 
in  his  bed,  while  his  brother  sang  to  him. 

One  day  when  Charles  was  about  four  years 
old,  he  said,  M  Dear  brother,  will  you  ride  me  on 
your  back  V  Henry  was  very  busy  just  then ;  he 
was  making  a  bow  and  arrow.  He  looked  down, 
and  saw  a  sweet  little  face,  and  two  bright  blue 
eyes,  looking  at  him,  and  saying  as  plainly 
as  eyes  could  say,  "Do,  dear  brother."  So 
he  said,   "Yes,  Charley,  I  will,  if  you  will  help 


40  AUNT   FANISTY'S 

me  to  put  away.niy  things."  Charles  ran  about, 
and  helped  Henry  put  his  play-room  in  nice  or- 
der, and  then  climbing  on  his  back,  and  holding 
fast  to  a  ribbon,  for  a  bridle,  which  Henry  held 
between  his  teeth,  he  gave  him  a  little  tap  on  the 
shoulder,  and  crying  "  Get  up,  old  fellow,"  away 
they  went  around  the  room,  Henry  galloping  so 
hard,  that  Charles  bounced  about  almost  as  much 
as  if  he  was  on  a  real  pony. 

"  Let  us  go  in  the  parlors,  they  are  a  great 
deal  larger,"  said  Charles ;  "  do,  dear  brother." 

"  I  am  afraid  it  would  not  be  right,"  replied 
Henry ;  a  we  may  break  something.  Mother 
has  said  that  we  had  better  never  play  there." 

"But  we  will  be  so  careful,"  said  the  little 
boy ;  "we  can  play  circus  so  nice.  I  want  to  go 
in  the  parlor." 

Henry's  Father  and  Mother  had  gone  out 
riding,  so  he  could  not  ask  leave  to  play  in  the 
parlors.  He  was  almost  sure  it  was  wrong  to  go 
there,  but  he  wanted  to  gratify  his  brother ;  so 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  41 

promising  himself  to  be  very  careful,  he  trotted 
down  stairs  into  the  parlor,  with  Charles  on  his 
back.  At  first  he  went  slowly  round  the  two 
rooms,  but  Charles  began  to  whip  his  horse  and 
cry,  "  Get  up,  old  boy,  you  are  getting  lazy. 
You  shall  be  a  race-horse — you  shall  be  Boston. 
Now  go  faster,  faster ;  go  round  the  room  like 
lightning." 

So  round  he  went,  fast  and  faster,  shaking 
his  head,  and  taking  great  jumps,  and  kicking  his 
legs  up  behind,  with  Charley  holding  on,  laugh- 
ing and  screaming  with  delight,  till  alas !  sad  to 
tell,  his  elbow  brushed  against  a  beautiful  and 
costly  vase,  which  stood  upon  a  little  table, 
knocked  it  off,  and  broke  it  into  a  hundred  pieces. 

Henry  stopped  short,  and  let  Charles  slide 
down  from  his  back.  He  looked  at  the  broken 
vase,  and  then  at  his  brother,  and  Charles  looked 
at  Henry,  and  then  at  the  pieces  on  the  floor. 

"It  is  all  broken,"  said  he.  "It  can't  be 
mended  at  all,  can  it,  brother  V1 


42 

"  No,  it  is  past  mending,"  said  Henry ;  "  and 
the  first  thing  we  must  do  will  be  to  tell  Mother." 

"  Oh  no !"  said  the  little  boy,  "  I  am  afraid 
to  tell  her." 

"  We  must  never  be  afraid  to  tell  the  truth, 
dear  Charley.  I  will  set  you  a  good  example. 
You  shall  never  learn  to  tell  a  lie  from  me." 
Henry  had  always  remembered  what  his  Mother 
had  said  to  him,  the  very  first  time  he  ever  saw 
his  little  brother ;  and  very  often,  when  he  was 
tempted  to  be  naughty,  or  get  in  a  passion,  the 
words  "  Your  brother  will  do  just  as  you  do," 
would  seem  to  come  from  his  heart,  and  he  would 
conquer  his  passion. 

In  a  few  moments  the  boys  heard  the  wheels 
of  the  carriage.  Henry  went  to  the  hall  door, 
and  opened  it.  He  held  Charles  by  the  hand. 
He  had  to  hold  him  pretty  tight,  for  Charles  tried 
to  get  away.  His  face  was  pale.  He  waited 
until  his  Mother  got  out  of  the  carriage  and  came 
up  the  steps — and  taking  hold  of  her  hand  and 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  43 

looking  up  in  her  face,  he  said  in  a  firm  voice, 
a  Mother,  I  have  broken  your  vase." 

"  And  I  too,"  said  the  little  boy,  "  and  it  is 
broken  all  to  pieces." 

Henry  was  glad  to  hear  his  little  brother  say 
this,  and  oh !  how  happy  it  made  him  feel,  to 
think  that  he  had  learned  to  speak  the  truth  from 
him. 

Their  Mother  kissed  them  both  and  said, 
"  My  darling  boys,  I  am  rejoiced  that  you  are 
not  afraid  to  speak  the  truth.  I  would  rather 
lose  twenty  vases  than  have  you  tell  a  lie  ;  but 
you  knew  it  was  wrong  to  play  in  the  parlors, 
did  you  not  V 

"Yes,  dear  Mother,  it  was  wrong,  and  I 
knew  it  was,"  replied  Henry.  "I  will  submit 
to  any  punishment  you  think  right.  I  ought 
to  have  remembered  that  you  advised  us  not  to 
go  there." 

"  If  you  think  you  ought  to  be  punished," 
said  his  Mother,  "  Charley  shall  go  to  bed  to- 


44  AUNT    FANNYS 

night  without  your  singing  to  him.  This  will 
make  you  both  remember.     Is  that  right  V 

"Yes,  dear  Mother,"  said  Henry;  but  he 
looked  very  sorry ;  and  little  Charles  made  up  a 
long  face,  for  he  loved  his  brother  so  much,  that 
he  could  not  bear  to  think  that  he  must  go  to 
sleep  without  holding  his  finger  and  hearing  him 
sing. 

When  bed-time  came,  Charley  wanted  to  beg 
his  Mother  to  think  of  some  other  punishment  for 
him.  He  wanted  his  dear  brother  so  much.  He 
looked  at  Henry,  but  Henry  said,  "  Good-night, 
little  fellow.  "We  deserve  this.  Come ! — one 
night  will  soon  be  over.  Now,  let  us  see  how 
well  you  can  behave ;  and  he  gave  him  a  smile, 
and  a  kiss  so  full  of  love,  that  the  little  fellow 
put  his  lips  tight  together,  and  marched  off  to 
bed  without  a  tear.  It  was  pretty  hard  to  do  it, 
but  he  had  this  kind  brother  to  set  him  a  good 
example,  and  he  was  determined  to  be  as  good  a 
boy  as  Henry. 


CHKISTMAS   STOEIES.  45 

Not  many  weeks  after  this,  poor  little  Charles 
was  taken  sick.  He  was  very  sick  indeed,  and 
every  day  he  grew  worse.  The  doctor  did  all  he 
could  for  him,  and  Henry  staid  with  him  night 
and  day,  and  would  hardly  take  any  rest.  He 
gave  him  all  his  medicine,  and  sang  to  him  very 
often  when  he  was  in  pain.  But  Charles  did 
not  get  any  better,  and  at  last,  the  doctor  said 
that  he  could  not  make  him  well— the  little  boy 
must  die. 

When  Henry  heard  this,  the  tears  burst  from 
his  eyes,  and  he  sobbed  out,  "  Oh  my  brother ! 
Oh  my  brother !  I  cannot  part  with  you,  my 
little  precious  brother." 

The  poor  little  fellow  had  become  so  weak 
and  thin  that  he  could  scarcely  lift  his  hands 
from  the  bed  where  he  lay. 

The  last  night  came.  He  knew  that  he 
would  not  live  many  hours,  for  his  dear  Mother 
had  told  him  so ;  and  now  she  told  him,  that  as 
he  had  always  tried  to  be  a  good  boy,  he  would 


46  aunt  fanny's 

go  to  Heaven,  and  Jesus  would  take  him  into  Ms 
bosom,  and  love  him,  and  keep  him,  until  they 
came  to  him. 

His  little  pale  face  grew  bright.  "Dear 
Mother,"  said  he,  "will  Jesus  let  my  brother 
come  to  me?  I  want  my  brother  in  Heaven. 
Come  here  close  to  me,"  said  he  to  Henry.  His 
brother  leaned  his  face  down  close  to  the  little 
boy's  face,  and  helped  him  clasp  his  arms  around 
his  neck,  and  then  he  whispered,  in  a  soft  weak 
voice,  "  Do  not  cry,  dear  brother,  do  not  cry  any 
more.  I  will  pray  to  Jesus,  to  let  you  come  very 
soon  and  sing  me  to  sleep  in  Heaven." 

These  were  the  last  words  he  spoke,  for  his 
breath  grew  shorter  and  shorter,  and  soon  after 
his  little  hand  dropped  away  from  his  brother's, 
and  he  was  dead. 

His  Father  had  him  buried  in  Greenwood 
Cemetery. 

It  was  in  the  summer  time  that  he  died,  and 
his  brother  Henry  planted  a  white  rose-bush  at 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  47 

the  foot  of  the  little  grave,  and  a  red  rose-bush 
at  the  head,  and  often  in  the  pleasant  summer 
afternoons  he  would  go  alone  to  Greenwood,  and 
sit  upon  little  Charley's  grave,  and  think  how  he 
might  now  be  praying  for  him  in  Heaven. 

Henry  is  now  a  man.  He  was  always  a  good 
boy.  He  is  now  a  good  man;  and  although 
many  years  have  passed  since  he  lost  his  little 
brother,  he  goes  every  summer  to  Greenwood  to 
visit  his  grave ;  and  the  tears  always  come  into 
his  eyes  when  he  speaks  of  him,  and  tells  that 
little  Charley's  last  words  were,  that  he  would 
pray  to  Jesus  to  let  his  darling  brother  come 
soon,  and  sing  him  to  sleep  in  Heaven. 


w 


J**r 


48  aunt  fanny's 


ANNIE  BROWNE. 


Little  Annie  Browne  was  "an  only  child,  that 
is,  her  parents  had  no  little  boys  at  all,  and  only 
this  one  little  girl;  so  yon  may  be  sure  they 
loved  this  little  girl  very  much  indeed,  and  were 
all  the  time  doing  every  thing  to  make  her  happy. 
Now  I  wonder  if  the  dear  little  boy,  or  girl,  who 
is  reading  this,  can  guess  the  means  that  Annie's 
Father  and  Mother  took  to  make  her  happy. 

Did  they  give  her  plenty  of  candy?  No. 
Did  they  buy  new  play  things  for  her  every 
day  ?  No.  Did  they  take  her  very  often  to  the 
Museum,  or  the  Circus,  or  the  Menagerie  ?  No. 
This  was  not  the  way.  I  will  tell  you  what  they 
cl  fend  I  will  tell  you  what  Annie  did,  for  one 
wW&e  day,  when  she  was  about  five  years  old, 

Mb 


n»*  4      * 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  49 


and  that  will  give  you  a  very  good  idea  of  the 
way  they  took  to  make  her  good,  for  then  she 
was  save  to  be  liajppy. 

*■  "Well,  one  day  Annie  woke  up  very  early  in 
the  morning,  and,  sitting  up  in  her  little  bed, 
which  was  close  by  the  side  of  her  Mamma's,  she 
first  rubbed  her  eyes,  and  than  she  looked  all 
round  the  room,  and  saw  a  narrow  streak  of 
bright  light  on  the  wall.  It  was  made  by  the 
sun  shining  through  a  crack  in  the  shutter.  She 
began  to  sing  softly  this  little  song,  that  she  had 
learned  in  school — 

"  What  is  it  shines  so  very  bright. 
That  quick  dispels  the  dusky  night  ? 

It  is  the  sun,  the  sun, 
Shedding  around  its  cheerful  light — 
It  is  the  sun,  the  sun." 

Presently  she  looked  round  again,  and  saw 
her  Mamma  sleeping.  She  said  in  her  soft  little 
voice — "Mamma,  Mamma,  good  morning,  dear 
Mamma." 


50  AUNT   FANNY'S 

But  her  Mamma  did  not  wake  up.  Then  she 
crept  over  her  to  where  her  Papa  was  sleeping, 
and  said — 

a  Papa,  Papa,  good  morning,  dear  Papa." 

But  her  Papa  was  too  fast  asleep  to  hear  her. 
So  she  gave  her  Papa  a  little  kiss  on  the  end 
of  his  nose,  and  laid  gently  down  between 
them. 

In  a  few  minutes,  her  Papa  woke  up,  and 
said — 

"Why!  what  little  monkey  is  this  in  the 
bed?"  which  made  Annie  laugh  very  much.  She 
then  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  put  on  her  stock- 
ings and  shoes  herself,  as  all  little  boys  and 
girls  of  five  years  old  ought,  and  put  on  her 
clothes ;  and  her  Mamma,  who  was  now  awake, 
fastened  them,  and  brushed  her  hair  nicely,  and 
washed  her  face  and  hands.  After  that,  she  said 
some  little  prayers,  that  her  Mamma  had  taught 
her — and  then  ran  down  stabs,  singing  as  gay  as 
a  lark,  and  dancing  as  light  as  a  fairy. 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  51 

After  breakfast,  her  Mamma  got  her  school 
basket,  (it  was  a  cunning  little  basket,)  and  put 
in  it  a  nice  slice  of  bread  and  butter,  and  a 
peach,  and  gave  her  a  little  bouquet  of  flowers 
to  present  to  her  teacher,  whom  little  Annie 
loved  dearly ;  and  then  her  Mamma  said,  "  Good 
bye,  my  darling,"  and  Annie  made  her  such  a 
funny  little  curtsey,  that  she  nearly  tumbled 
over,  and  off  she  went  to  school  with  her  Papa, 
who  always  saw  her  safe  to  the  door. 

Annie  staid  in  school  from  nine  o'clock  until 
two.  When  she  came  home,  her  Mother  kissed 
her,  and  said — 

"  Have  you  been  a  good  little  girl  in  school 
to-day?" 

"  I  think  I  have,"  said  Annie ;  "  Miss  Harriet 
said  that  I  was  very  diligent.  What  is  diligent, 
Mamma  P 

"To  be  diligent,  my  dear,"  answered  her 
Mamma,  "means  to  study  your  lesson  all  the 
time,  without  thinking  of  play,  or  any  thing 
else,  until  you  know  it  perfectly." 


52  aunt  fanny's 

Annie  said  she  was  glad  it  meant  such  good 
mings,  and  added,  "  Mamma,  will  yon  play  I  am 
a  lady,  coming  to  see  you,  if  you  are  not  too 
busy  ff 

Her  Mamma  said  she  would.  So  Annie  got 
her  two  dollys.  One  was  a  very  pretty  wax  doll, 
with  eyes  that  could  open  and  shut.  Her  name 
was  Emily;  and  the  other  was  not  wax,  but 
was  larger.  Her  name  was  Augusta.  She  put 
on  then  hats  and  visites,  and  dressed  herself  in 
an  old  hat,  with  a  green  veil,  and  came  near  her 
Mamma,  and  made  believe  ring  a  bell,  and  said, 
"  Ting  a  ling,  ting  a  ling." 

"  Come  in,"  said  her  Mamma. 

Little  Annie  shook  hands  with  her  Mamma, 
and  said,  "  How  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Browne  ?" 

"Thank  you,  I  am  very  well,"  said  her 
Mamma.  "  Take  a  seat,  my  dear  Mrs.  Frisby," 
that  was  Annie's  name.  "How  are  your  chil- 
dren, Mrs.  Frisby  ?" 

"  Oh  !  they  are  very  sick,"  answered  Annie  : 


CHEISTMA8    STORIES.  53 

"one  has  the  toothache,  and  the  other  has  & 
little  square  hole  in  the  back  of  her  head,  ar# 
it  has  made  her  head  ache." 

"  Dear  me,  Mrs.  Frisby,"  said  her  Mamma, 
"  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  it ;  yon  ought  to  go 
to  the  doctor  with  them." 

Then  Annie  pretended  to  go  to  the  doctor, 
and  she  took  out  of  the  drawer  a  little  bit  of 
sugar  for  medicine.  She  eat  the  medicine  up 
herself,  and  said  that  it  had  done  the  dollys 
a  great  deal  of  good.  In  this  pleasant  way  she 
amused  herself  until  dinner  time. 

After  dinner,  her  Papa  and  Mamma  took 
her  to  Union  Park,  as  it  was  pleasant ;  and  there 
Annie  jumped  the  rope  with  other  little  girls,  or 
rolled  a  great  hoop.  She  could  roll  the  hoop 
very  well. 

Then  she  came  skipping  home,  and  had  her 
tea ;  and  after  that  her  Mother  undressed  her  and 
heard  her  say  her  prayers,  and  kissed  her  for 
good  night ;  and  she  jumped  into  bed,  and  in  a 


54  aunt  fanny's 

moment  was  fast  asleep.  Don't  you  think 
^Lnnie  was  a  happy  little  girl?  I  think  she 
was,  for  all  her  days  passed  in  this  pleasant 
manner.  Some  other  time,  perhaps,  I  will  tell 
yon  more  about  little  Annie  Browne. 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  55 


THE  THREE  BEARS. 

Laura  and  Fanny  came  one  Saturday  to 
spend  the  day  with  their  Grandmamma.  The 
moment  they  got  into  the  house,  little  Laura  ran 
to  the  book-case,  to  get  a  book  to  read;  and 
Fanny  asked  for  a  needle  and  thread,  and  began 
to  sew  up  a  corner  of  the  red  cloth  that  was  on 
the  work-table. 

Both  these  little  girls  were  very  fond  of  com- 
ing to  see  their  Grandmamma,  and  she  liked  to 
have  them  come ;  for  they  gave  her  no  trouble, 
and  were  very  good  and  polite  to  every  body. 

Pretty  soon  Laura  said,  "  Oh,  dear !  this  is 
not  a  very  interesting  book,  I  am  tired  of  reading 
it.     I  wonder  where  Aunt  Fanny  is.     I  believe 


56  AUNT   FANNY'S 

I  will  go  find  her,  and  get  her  to  tell  me  a 
story." 

"A  story!"  said  Fanny,  "then  I  will  go 
too."  So  she  stuck  her  needle  in  her  work, 
and  they  both  ran  out  of  the  room. 

They  found  their  Aunt  Fanny  in  the  next 
room.  She  was  sitting  at  her  writing-desk, 
writing  a  letter. 

"  Ohv  Auntie !"  said  Laura,  coming  up  to  the 
desk,  "  how  much  you  have  written ;  I  am  sure 
you  must  "be  tired.  Suppose  you  stop  a  little 
while,  and  rest  yourself  by  telling  us  a  story." 

Her  Aunt  laughed,  and  said  that  was  a  very 
clever  way  of  getting  a  story  out  of  her,  and 
asked  the  children  what  kind  of  a  story  they 
would  like. 

"  I  like  a  fairy  tale,"  said  little  Fanny. 

"  And  I  like  a  ghost  story,"  said  Laura.  "  I 
think  a  ghost  story  is  great  fun,  for  I  never 
believe  a  word  of  it." 

"  But  you  know  I  never  tell  ghost  stories," 
replied  her  Aunt ;  "  they  are  very  silly  things. 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  57 

I  will  tell  you  a  story  about  three  bears,  which  I 
read  a  long  while  ago.  I  do  not  remember  it 
exactly,  but  I  think  I  can  make  it  do  for  you." 

"  Oh,  yes !  yes  !"  cried  the  children,  "  three 
bears ! — that  will  be  funny  I  know." 

So  their  kind  Aunt  laid  down  her  pen,  and 
took  little  Fanny  upon  her  lap,  and  told  Laura  to 
get  a  bench  and  sit  by  her  side,  and  commenced 
her  story* 

"  Once  upon  a  time  there  were  three  bears, 
that  lived  in  a  thick  wood.  One  was  a  GREAT 
BIG-  BEAR,  one  a  middling  sized  bear,  and 
the  third  a  tiny  hit  of  a  hear.  The  GREAT 
BIG  BEAR  lived  in  a  GREAT  BIG  HOUSE; 
the  middling  sized  bear  lived  in  a  middling 
sized  house  ;  and  the  tiny  hit  of  a  hear  lived  in 

*  This  story  should  be  read  aloud.  When  the  reader 
comes  to  the  "great  big  bear,"  or  to  any  thing  he  says 
or  does,  he  (the  reader)  should  read  in  a  loud  gruff  voice ; 
all  about  the  "  middling  sized  bear,"  in  the  ordinary  voice ; 
and  all  about  the  "tiny  bit  of  a  bear,"  in  a  high  small 
squeaking  voice. 


58  aunt  fanny's 

a  little  speck  of  a  house;  and  the  houses  were 
close  together. 

"  Well,  one  day  the  bears  went  off  to  take 
a  walk;  and,  while  they  were  gone,  a  little 
ragged  dirty  old  woman  came  through  the  wood. 
All  at  once,  she  spied  the  three  houses ;  so  she 
hobbled  up  to  see  who  lived  in  them.  First 
she  went  into  the  great  big  bear's  house,  and 
there  she  saw  a  great  big  bowl  of  porridge 
on  the  table.  She  tasted  it.  It  was  a  great 
deal  too  hot.  Then  she  came  out  of  the  house, 
and  went  into  the  middling  sized  bear's  house, 
and  there  she  saw  a  middling  sized  bowl  of 
porridge.  So  she  tasted  it,  and  found  it  was 
a  little  to  hot.  She  came  out,  and  went  into 
the  tiny  bit  of  a  bear's  house,  and  there  she 
saw  a  little  mite  of  a  bowl  of  porridge.  She 
tasted  it,  and  it  was  just  right,  so  the  little 
ragged  dirty  old  woman  eat  it  all  up.  Then 
she  went  up  stairs  and  laid  down  on  the  tiny 
bit  of  a  bear's  bed,  and  was  very  soon  fast 
asleep. 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  59 

"By  and  by,  the  bears  came  home.  The 
great  big  bear  went  into  his  house,  and  looked 
on  the  table.  Then  he  said,  in  a  tremendous 
voice — 

"  '  Somebody  has  been  at  my  bowl  of  por- 
ridge.' 

"The  middling  sized  bear  went  into  his 
house,  and,  looking  on  the  table,  he  said  in 
a  middling  sized  voice — 

"  '  Somebody  has  been  at  my  bowl  of  por- 
ridge.' 

"  Then  the  tiny  bit  of  a  bear  went  into  his 
house,  and,  looking  on  the  table,  he  said,  in  a 
little  squeaking  voice — 

"  '  Somebody  has  been  at  my  bowl  of  por- 
ridge, and  eat  it  all  up.' 

"  Oh,  how  angr)  he  was.  He  wers  t  to  the 
door,  and  called  the  other  bears,  and  they  all 
three  went  up  stairs  together,  to  search  for  the 
thief;  and  there  they  found  the  thief,  in  the 
shape  of  the  little  ragged  dirty  old  woman  that 


60  AUNT   FANNY'S 

was  fast  asleep,  and  snoring  like  a  trumpeter,  on 
the  bed.     The  great  big  bear  went  and  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  bed ;  the  middling  sized  bear 
went  and  stood  at  the  middle  of  the  bed ;  and 
the  tiny  bit  of  a  bear  went  and  stood  at  the  foot 
of  the  bed.     Then  the  great  big  bear  said — 
"  '  Who  is  this  in  the  bed  V 
u  The  middling  sized  bear  said — 
"  '  It  looks  like  a  dirty  old  woman.' 
"  -  And  there's  some  of  my  porridge  sticking 
on  her  lips,'  said  the  tiny  bit  of  a  bear.     As  he 
said  this,  the  old  woman  awoke,  and  opened  her 
eyes. 

"When  she  saw  the  bears,  she  was  fright- 
ened almost  out  of  her  wits ;  so  sbe  started  up, 
and  jumped  right  out  of  the  window,  that  was 
tlose  to  the  bed,  and  ran  off  with  all  her  might 
and  main.  Then  the  bears  tumbled  down  stairs 
head  over  heels,  pell-mell,  and  rushed  out  of  the 
house,  to  catch  her  and  eat  her  up ;  but  they 
were  so  fat,  they  could  not  run  as  fast  as  she 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  61 

could ;  so  the  little  ragged  dirty  old  woman  got 
off,  all  out  of  breath,  but  safe  and  sound." 

"  What  did  the  tiny  bit  of  a  bear  do  for  his 
dinner  ?"  asked  Fanny. 

"He  had  to  suck  his  paws,  I  suppose," 
answered  her  Aunt ;  "  but  I  do  not  know,  for 
that  was  the  end  of  the  story." 

The  children  had  laughed  very  much  at  this 
story,  because  their  Aunt  had  told  it  to  them  in 
a  way  that  made  it  very  amusing.  They  thanked 
her,  and  said  they  hoped  she  would  tell  it  to 
them  again,  the  next  Saturday.  She  promised 
she  would,  and  told  them  to  run  off,  as  she 
wanted  to  finish  her  letter.  So  the  little  girls 
went  off,  and  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  in  various 
ways,  taking  care  not  to  be  troublesome  or 
noisy;  and  when  they  went  home,  they  told 
their  Mother,  as  well  as  they  could,  the  funny 
story  of  the  three  bears. 


62 


ABOUT  MINDING  QUICKLY. 

Emma  was  one  day  sitting  by  the  fire,  on  a 
little  bench.  She  was  trying  to  cut  a  mouse  out  of 
a  piece  of  paper.  She  had  a  pair  of  scissors,  with 
round  ends.  Her  Mother  had  given  her  these 
scissors  for  her  own,  because  they  were  safer 
for  her  to  use  than  scissors  with  pointed  ends. 

Presently  her  Mother  said,  "  Come  here  to 
me,  Emma." 

"  Wait  a  minute,  Mother,"  said  Emma. 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  her  Mother,  "  that  it 
was  naughty  for  you  to  say  that  ?" 

"Why,  you  can  wait  a  little  minute,"  said 
Emma ;  u  I  am  very  busy.  Don't  you  see  that 
I  am  making  a  mouse  ?" 

u  Emma,"  replied  her  Mother,  "  do  you  know 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  63 

that  I  ought  to  punish  you,  because  you  do  not 
mind?" 

"I  am  coming  right  away,"  cried  Emma, 
dropping  her  scissors  and  her  paper  mouse, 
and  running  up  to  her  Mother. 

Her  Mother  took  her  up  on  her  lap,  and  said, 
"  My  little  girl,  this  will  never  do.  You  must 
learn  to  come  at  once  when  you  are  called ;  you 
must  obey  quickly.  If  you  continue  in  this  very 
naughty  habit  of  not  minding  until  you  are  told  to 
do  a  thing  two  or  three  times,  you  will  grow  up  a 
very  disagreeable  girl,  and  nobody  will  love  you." 

Emma  looked  up  mournfully  into  her  Moth- 
er's face,  and  said,  "  Mother,  I  will  try  to  do  bet- 
ter." 

She  was  a  good-tempered  child,  and  was  sel- 
dom cross  or  sullen ;  but  she  had  this  one  bad 
habit,  and  it  was  a  very  bad  habit  indeed — she 
waited  to  be  told  twice,  and  sometimes  oftener, 
and  many  times  she  made  her  kind  Mother  very 
unhappy. 


64  AUNT   FANNYS 

For  a  few  days  after  this  Emma  remembered 
what  her  Mother  had  said  to  her,  and  always 
came  the  first  time  she  was  called.  She  came 
pleasantly,  for  it  is  very  important  to  mind  plea- 
santly, and  did  every  thing  she  was  told  to  do 
right  away,  and  her  Mother  loved  her  dearly,  and 
hoped  she  was  quite  cured  of  her  naughty  ways. 

But  I  am  very  sorry  to  have  to  say  that  a  time 
came  when  Emma  entirely  forgot  her  promise. 
You  shall  hear  how  it  happened. 

One  morning  Emma's  Mother  said  to  her, 
"  Emma,  it  is  time  for  you  to  get  up,  and  put  on 
your  stockings  and  shoes." 

Emma  did  not  move.  She  lay  with  her  eyes 
wide  open,  watching  a  fly  on  the  wall,  that  was 
scrubbing  his  thin  wings  with  his  hind  legs. 

"Did  you  hear  me,  Emma?  Put  on  your 
stockings  and  shoes." 

Emma  got  up  very  slowly.  She  put  one  foot 
out  of  bed,  and  then  looked  again  at  the  fly. 
This  time  he  was  scrubbing  his  face  with  his  fore 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  65 

legs.  So  she  sat  there,  and  said  to  herself,  "  I 
wonder  how  that  funny  little  fly  can  stay  upon 
the  wall.  I  can't  walk  up  the  wall  as  the  fly  can. 
What  a  little  round  black  head  he  has  got." 

"Emma!"  said  her  Mother,  and  this  time 
she  spoke  in  a  very  severe  tone. 

Emma  started,  and  put  her  other  foot  out 
of  bed,  and  took  up  one  of  her  stockings. 

Her  Mother  got  out  of  her  bed,  which  was 
close  to  Emma's  crib,  and  began  to  dress  herself. 
When  she  was  dressed,  she  looked  round,  and  saw 
Emma,  with  one  stocking  half  on,  and  the  other 
rolled  up  in  a  little  ball,  which  she  was  throwing 
up  in  the  air. 

Her  Mother  was  angry  with  her.  She  went 
up  to  her,  and  took  her  stocking  away  from  her, 
and  told  her  to  get  into  bed  again,  for  if  she 
would  not  dress  herself  when  her  Mother  bid  her, 
she  should  be  punished  by  being  made  to  lie  in 
bed.  She  shut  up  the  window  shutters,  and  took 
all  the  books  out  of  the  room,  and  telling  Emma 


6$  AtTNT   FANNY'S 

not  to  get  up  until  she  gave  her  leave,  she  went 
down  stairs  to  breakfast. 

Now  children  don't  like  to  be  put  to  bed  in 
the  daytime ;  at  least  I  have  never  heard  of  any 
one  that  did ;  and  Emma  was  soon  tired  of  lying 
in  bed,  in  a  dark  room,  wide  awake,  with  nothing 
to  do,  and  no  pleasant  thoughts,  for  she  could 
think  of  nothing  but  her  naughty  behavior.  So 
this  was  a  very  severe  punishment,  and  she  began 
to  cry,  and  wish  she  had  minded '  quickly,  and 
then  she  would  have  been  down  stairs,  where  the 
sun  was  shining  brightly  into  the  windows.  She 
would  have  been  sitting  in  her  chair,  with  her 
dear  little  kitten  in  her  lap,  and  a  nice  bowl  of 
bread  and  milk  for  her  breakfast.  She  always 
saved  a  little  milk  in  the  bottom  of  the  bowl  for 
Daisy  her  kitten,  and  after  she  had  done,  she 
would  give  the  rest  to  Daisy.  So  you  see  that 
Emma  lost  a  great  deal  by  not  minding  quickly 
and  what  was  worse  than  all,  she  had  displeased 
her  Mother  and  made  her  unhappy. 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  67 

Oh,  how  weary  she  got.  How  she  longed  to 
get  up.  She  did  not  dare  to  disobey  her  Mother, 
and  she  lay  in  her  crib  a  long,  long  time,  and 
thought  she  never  could  be  so  naughty  again. 

At  last  her  Mother  came  in  the  room.  She 
opened  the  shutters,  and  said,  "  Emma,  you  may 
get  up  and  put  on  your  stockings  and  shoes.*' 

Emma  jumped  up  quickly,  and  had  them  on 
in  two  minutes,  and  then  she  took  off  her  night- 
gown and  put  on  her  day  clothes,  which  hung 
over  the  back  of  the  chair  by  her  crib,  and  went 
to  her  Mother  to  have  them  fastened,  for  she 
could  not  fasten  them  herself.  Her  Mother  fast- 
ened her  clothes,  and  then  taking  her  little  girl's 
hand,  she  said,  "  My  dear  little  Emma,  you  have 
made  me  feel  very  unhappy  this  morning.  I  do 
not  like  to  punish  you,  but  it  is  my  duty  to  try  to 
cure  you  of  all  your  naughty  ways,  and  it  is  your 
duty  to  try  to  overcome  them.  If  you  do  not, 
some  day  you  may  meet  with  some  terrible  mis- 
fortune, like  that  which  happened  to  a  boy  I  used 


68 

to  know  when  I  was  young.  I  will  tell  it  to  yon. 
This  boy,  like  yon,  grieved  his  parents  often,  by 
not  minding  quickly ;  and  he  suffered  for  -it  in  a 
way  that  he  will  never  forget,  as  long  as  he  lives. 
He  was  one  day  standing  on  the  steps  of  the 
house  where  he  lived,  and  I  was  standing  at  the 
window  of  the  house  opposite,  where  I  lived.  I 
was  watching  some  men  that  were  on  the  top  of 
this  boy's  house,  fixing  the  roof.  The  roof  was 
covered  with  loose  pieces  of  slate,  and  nails,  and 
rubbish. 

"  Presently  one  of  the  men  on  the  roof  cried 
out,  l  Go  in,  little  boy ;  go  in.'  But  the  boy  was 
looking  at  a  kite  that  some  other  boys  had  in  the 
street,  and  he  did  not  choose  to  go  in.  The  man 
thought  that  he  had  minded  what  he  told  him, 
and  without  looking  again,  he  tumbled  down  a 
great  heap  of  slates  and  rubbish.  The  house  was 
quite  high,  and  a  large  and  sharp  piece  of  slate 
came  down  very  swiftly,  and  struck  the  boy  on 
the  side  of  his  head,  and  cut  off  nearly  the  whole 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  69 

of  his  ear.  In  a  moment  the  blood  poured  down 
his  neck  and  over  his  clothes,  and  I  thought  he 
would  bleed  to  death.  Oh  Emma !  what  a 
dreadful  punishment  for  not  minding  quickly ! 

"For  a  long  time  he  went  about  with  his 
head  bound  up,  and  when  he  got  well  again  the 
side  of  his  face  looked  very  bad  indeed,  for  where 
his  ear  had  been  there  was  a  dreadful  scar  that 
never  went  away.  Now  he  is  a  man,  and  he 
often  tells  children  how  he  got  this  dreadful  scar, 
and  all^because  he  did  not  mind  quickly." 

The  tears  had  rolled  down  Emma's  face,  while 
her  Mother  was  telling  her  this  story.  "When  she 
had  finished  it,  Emma  put  her  arms  around  her 
mother's  neck,  and  told  her  that  indeed  she  would 
try  to  obey  at  once,  and  be  a  good  little  girl,  so 
that  her  dear  Mother  would  never  be  unhappy 
about  her  again. 

Her  Mother  kissed  her,  and  took  her  down 
stairs,  and  gave  her  some  breakfast,  and  all  this 
day,  and  ever  after,  she  did  try  very  hard  to  be 


70  aunt  fanny's 

good.  "Whenever  she  felt  herself  going  about 
any  thing  slowly,  the  thought  of  the  poor  boy 
who  had  lost  his  ear  would  come  into  her  mind, 
and  she  would  jump  up  at  once,  when  her  Moth- 
er called  her,  and  do  whatever  she  wanted  her  to 
do,  pleasantly  and  quickly. 


'Presently  their  mother  opened  the  door.1 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  71 


THE  TWINS. 

"Well,  Susan,"  said  her  Father  one  day, 
as  she  came  home  from  school,  "  I  am  glad  to 
see  you ;  I  wish  to  inform  you  that  two  young 
gentlemen  arrived  here  to-day." 

"  What  are  their  names,  Father  ?"  asked 
Susan. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  answered  her  Father — "  I 
do  not  believe  they  have  got  any  names.  They 
are  very  small — so  small,  that  at  this  moment 
they  are  both  asleep  in  the  great  chair." 

"Both  asleep  in  the  great  chair?"  cried 
Susan,  astonished  at  what  her  Father  had  said. 
"  I  do  believe  you  have  been  buying  two  little 
monkeys." 

"  No,  I  have  not,"  said  her  Father,  laughing, 


72  aunt  fact's 

"  Now  come  with  me,  and  I  will  show  you  these 
strangers,  and  then  see  if  you  will  say  they  are 
monkeys." 

Susan  went  with  her  Father.  He  took  her 
hand,  and  led  her  into  her  Mother's  room.  The 
room  was  dark,  and  her  Mother  was  lying  in  the 
bed.  Susan  was  afraid  that  she  was  sick.  She 
went  to  her  and  said — 

"Dear  Mother,  are  you  sick?  You  look 
very  pale." 

Her  Mother  kissed  her,  and  said,  "I  am  very 
weak,  my  dear  child ;  but  do  you  not  want  to 
see  your  little  brothers  ?" 

"Brothers? — where?"  cried  Susan.  "Have 
I  a  brother  ?" 

"  Two  of  them,"  said  her  Father.  "  Come 
here,  Susan,  here  they  both  are,  fast  asleep." 

Susan  went  up  to  the  great  easy  chair,  and 
in  the  seat  of  it  she  saw,  all  tucked  up  warm, 
two  little  round  fat  faces  lying  close  together. 
Their  noses  nearly  touched  each  other,  and  they 
looked  funny  enough. 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  f  3 

""Well,  Susan,"  said  her  Father,  "do  you 
like  the  monkeys  ?" 

"  Oh  Father !"  answered  the  little  girl,  clasp- 
ing her  hands,  "  I  am  so  glad — I  am  so  happy ! 
They  are  exactly  alike- — how  I  shall  love  them, 
the  dear  little  toads." 

"Toads,"  said  her  Father,  laughing;  "they 
don't  look  a  bit  like  toads." 

"  "Well,  I  said  that  "because  I  loved  them  so," 
replied  Susan,  "just  as  you  sometimes  call  me 
your  little  mouse." 

For  two  weeks,  the  little  twins  slept  together 
in  the  great  chair,  and  there  was  no  end  to 
Susan's  wonder  and  delight.  Her  Mother  had 
to  tie  a  bit  of  red  silk  around  the  wrist  of  one  of 
them,  to  tell  them  apart.  They  grew  very  fast, 
and  were  the  dearest  little  fellows  in  the  world, 
they  had  such  bright  merry  black  eyes,  and  were 
always  ready  to  have  a  frolic  with  Susan.  As 
they  grew  up,  they  were  so  good,  and  so  pretty, 
that  every  body  loved  them,  and  a  great  many 


74  aunt  fanny's 

people  came  to  see  them.  I  forgot  to  tell  yon  that 
one  was  named  George  and  the  other  James. 

One  day,  when  the  twins  were  three  years 
old,  they  were  left  alone  in  the  breakfast  room. 
The  things  on  the  breakfast  table  had  been 
cleared  away,  except  a  bowl  nearly  full  of 
sugar,  which  was  standing  on  the  table. 

Presently  the  little  fellows  spied  the  bowl 
of  sugar.  "  George,"  said  James,  "  if  you  will 
help  me  with  this  chair,  I  will  give  you  some 
sugar." 

So  both  the  boys  took  hold  of  the  heavy 
chair,  and  dragged  it  to  the  table.  Then  James 
helped  George  to  climb  upon  it,  and  from  that 
he  scrambled  up  on  the  table.  He  walked 
across,  to  where  the  sugar  was,  and  sat  down  on 
the  table,  and  took  the  sugar  bowl  in  his  lap. 

"  Now  you  get  the  bench,"  said  George. 

So  James  got  the  bench,  and  put  it  close  to 
the  side  of  the  table  where  George  was,  and 
stood  upon  it. 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  75 

You  should  have  seen  how  their  merry  black 
eyes  sparkled,  at  the  fine  feast  they  were  going 
to  have.  They  did  not  think  that  they  were 
doing  wrong,  for  their  Mother  had  often  given 
them  a  little  sugar. 

So  George  took  the  spoon  that  was  in  the 
sugar,  and  helped  James  to  a  spoonful,  and 
then  took  one  himself.  He  was  very  particular 
to  give  James  exactly  as  many  spoonfuls  as  he 
took  himself. 

They  were  having  such  a  delightful  time, 
that,  for*  some  moments,  they  did  not  speak  a 
single  word.     George  began  first — 

"  This  is  nice,"  said  George. 

"  I  like  sugar,"  said  James. 

"It  is  so  sweet,"  said  George. 

"  And  so  good,"  said  James. 

"  "We  will  eat  it  all  up,"  said  George. 

"  We  won't  leave  a  bit,"  said  James. 

"  It  is  most  all  gone,"  said  George. 

"  There  is  hardly  any  left,"  said  James. 


76  aunt  fanny's 

All  this  time  they  were  talking,  George  had 
been  stuffing  his  brother  and  himself  with  the 
sugar. 

Just  then  their  Mother  opened  the  door. 
She  had  opened  it  softly,  and  the  little  boys  had 
not  heard  her.  When  she  saw  them  so  busy — 
with  their  round  faces  stuck  all  over  with  crumbs 
of  sugar,  and  George  sitting  on  the  table,  deal- 
ing it  out  so  fairly — she  could  not  keep  from 
laughing. 

The  twins  heard  her  laugh,  so  they  laughed 
too ;  and  George  cried  out — "  Mother,  this 
sugar  is  nice — I  like  it." 

"  And  so  do  I,"  said  James. 

Their  Mother  lifted  George  from  the  table, 
and  told  them  they  must  not  do  so  again,  for  so 
much  sugar  would  make  them  sick.  She  washed 
their  faces,  and  sent  them  to  play  in  the  garden., 
There  was  a  fine  large  garden  at  the  back  of 
the  house,  where  they  could  play  without  danger. 

Three  years  after  this,  the  twins  were  sent 


CHEISTMAS   STOEEES.  77 

to  school,  where  they  soon  became  great  favorites, 
because  they  were  amiable,  and  good,  and  always 
willing  to  do  as  they  were  told.  They  looked  so 
exactly  alike,  and  were  dressed  so  exactly  alike, 
that  often  very  funny  mistakes  were  made.  I 
will  tell  you  something  that  happened,  that  was 
not  funny,  but  it  will  show  you  how  hard  it  was 
to  tell  which  was  George,  and  which  was  James. 

One  day,  the  teacher  gave  the  twins  a 
spelling  lesson,  and  told  them  that  they  must 
know  it  perfectly  that  morning. 

Now  George,  for  the  first  time,  was  naughty, 
and  instead  of  learning  the  lesson,  he  was  mak- 
ing elephants  and  giraffes  on  his  slate;  but 
James  studied  his  lesson,  and  soon  knew  it. 
Presently  the  teacher  said,  "James,  do  you 
know  your  lesson  V 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  James.  He  went  up  to  the 
desk  and  said  it  very  well. 

"  You  know  it  perfectly,"  said  his  teacher ; 
"  you  are  a  good  boy.     Now  go  to  your  seat." 


78 

In  a  few  moments  he  said,  "  George,  come 
and  say  your  lesson." 

But  George  did  not  know  a  word  of  it ;  and 
James  whispered  to  him,  "  I  don't  want  you  to 
be  punished,  brother ;  I  will  go  for  you  and  say 
it  again." 

So  James  went  and  repeated  his  lesson. 
The  teacher  thought  of  course  it  was  George ; 
he  said,  a  Very  well  indeed,  George ;  you  know 
it  just  as  well  as  James:  you  are  both  good 
boys." 

When  George  heard  this  praise,  which  he 
did  not  deserve,  he  was  troubled.  He  had  been 
taught  never  to  deceive.  He  did  not  think  at 
first  how  wrong  he  had  been ;  now,  he  saw 
plainly,  that  it  was  very  wrong ;  that  he  and  his 
brother  had  been  acting  a  lie. 

He  whispered  to  James,  "Brother,  I  can't 
bear  to  cheat,  so  I  will  go  right  away  and  tell 
the  teacher." 

So  he  went  directly  up  to  the  desk,  and  said, 
"  Sir,  I  have  not  yet  said  my  lesson." 


CHEISTMAS   STOKIES.  79 

"  Why,  yes  you  have,"  replied  the  teacher, 
%CI  have  just  heard  you  say  it." 

"No,  sir,  if  you  please,"  said  George,  "I 
do  not  know  it  at  all.  James  said  it  twice,  to 
save  me  from  being  punished." 

"  Well,  George,"  replied  his  teacher,  ' '  I  am 
very  glad  you  have  told  me  this.  I  never  should 
have  found  it  out.  But  your  conscience  told  you 
that  you  were  doing  wrong ;  and  I  am  thankful 
you  have  listened  to  its  warnings,  and  made 
up  your  mind  at  once,  to  be  an  honest  boy.  I 
will  not  punish  you,  or  James,  for  I  am  sure 
neither  of  you  will  do  so  again." 

The  little  boys  promised  him  they  never 
would — and  they  never  did.  They  grew  up 
honest  and  good. 

Some  other  day,  I  will  tell  you  more  about 
them. 


80  AUNT   FANNY'S 


THE  LITTLE  BOY  THAT  WAS  AFRAID  OP 
THE  WATER. 

Once  on  a  time,  there  were  two  little  boys. 
"William  was  five  years  old,  and  Johnny  was  not 
quite  three.  The  weather  was  very  warm,  and 
these  little  boys  got  very  weak,  and  looked  so 
pale  and  sick,  that  the  doctor  said  their  parents 
had  better  take  them  to  Newport,  and  let  them 
bathe  in  the  surf.  So  their  Mother  packed  up 
their  clothes,  and  some  books,  for  she  did  not 
wish  them  to  be  idle ;  and,  one  pleasant  after- 
noon, they  all  went  on  board  of  the  steamboat 
that  was  going  to  Newport. 

The  little  boys  were  very  much  amused  at 
all  they  saw.  There  were  a  good  many  other 
boys  in  the  boat,  and  William  and  Johnny  looked 


"  Oil !   dear  mamma  come  and  kiss  me  'fore  I  die. 


CHEISTMAS    STOEIES.  81 

very  hard  at  them,  and  wished  they  knew  what 
their  names  were,  and  whether  they  had  a 
Noah's  Ark  and  Velocipede  like  theirs. 

After  they  had  had  their  supper,  their  Mam- 
ma put  them  to  bed  in  a  berth.  I  suppose 
you  all  know  what  a  berth  is.  It  is  a  narrow 
bed,  fastened  to  the  side,  of  the  cabin.  Some- 
times there  are  three,  one  above  the  other ;  and 
sometimes  two.  These  little  boys  got  into  one 
of  the  under  ones,  so  that,  if  they  rolled  out, 
they  would  not  be  as  likely  to  hurt  themselves. 
They  thought  it  was  very  funny  to  be  squeezed 
up  in  such  a  little  bed.  William  counted  twenty 
babies  in  the  cabin.  Some  of  these  babies  cried 
a  great  deal;  yet,  for  all  that,  the  boys  were 
fast  asleep  in  a  very  few  minutes,  and  slept  very 
soundly  all  night. 

The  next  morning,  their  Mamma  came  to 
their  berth  and  said,  "Come,  William — come, 
Johnny,  it  is  time  to  get  up — for  we  are  at  New- 
port, and  must  go  on  shore  as  quickly  as  we 
can." 


82  aunt  fanny's 

"Are  you  going  to  put  me  into  the  water 
now?"  said  Johnny,  beginning  to  look  very 
much  frightened,  for  Johnny  was  afraid  of  the 
water. 

"Oh,  Johnny,  don't  be  so  foolish,"  cried 
William:  "why,  I  should  like  to  go  in  head 
over  heels.     Mamma,  don't  they  duck  us  ?" 

"  I  believe  they  do,"  replied  his  Mother. 

William  now  begged  his  Mother  to  let  him 
go  out  of  the  cabin,  as  he  was  all  dressed.  She 
said  he  might  stand  just  outside  of  the  door,  and, 
if  he  saw  his  Father,  he  might  go  to  him,  but 
he  must  never  run  about  the  boat  alone. 

In  a  few  minutes  they  all  went  on  shore, 
and  got  into  a  carriage,  and  were  driven  up  to 
the  Hotel. 

After  breakfast,  William  and  Johnny  walked 
down  to  the  smooth  and  beautiful  beach  with 
their  parents,  where  a  great  many  people,  some 
of  them  children,  were  bathing.  They  seemed 
to  like  it  very  much ;  and  it  really  did  look  very 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.  83 

inviting,  for  the  sun  made  the  water  sparkle 
like  diamonds,  and  the  waves  seemed  dancing 
and  leaping,  and  looked  as  if  they  longed  to 
give  every  body  a  good  splashing. 

William  was  delighted.  He  could  hardly 
wait  for  his  Father  to  undress  and  put  on  his 
bathing  clothes,  he  was  in  such  a  great  hurry 
to  be  ducked ;  and  when  his  Father  took  him 
and  plunged  him  under  the  water,  although  he 
gasped  for  breath,  he  laughed,  and  kicked,  and 
splashed  the  water  at  his  Father,  and  cried, 
"Duck  me  again,  duck  me  again,  Papa,"  and 
he  looked  so  pleased,  that  some  other  children, 
with  their  parents,  came  to  where  he  was,  and 
they  all  had  a  grand  frolic  together. 

Little  Johnny  laughed  too,  as  he  stood  on 
the  dry  ground;  but,  when  his  Father  said, 
"  Come,  Johnny,  now  it  is  your  turn,"  he  made 
a  terrible  face,  and  cried  "Dear  Papa,  dear 
Mamma,  please  let  me  go  home.  I  shall  never 
see  you  again  if  you  put  me  in  that  great  big 


84  aunt  fanny's 

water."  But  his  Mamma  said  he  must  go  in, 
because  it  would  do  him  a  great  deal  of  good, 
and  she  undressed  him,  and  put  him  into  his 
Father's  arms. 

Johnny  now  began  to  scream  as  loud  as  he 
could,  and  cried  out,  "  Mamma,  Mamma,  I  want 
to  go  back  to  you."  But  his  Father  did  not 
mind  him  a  bit,  and  holding  him  by  his  arms, 
he  plunged  him  under  the  water. 

The  poor  little  fellow  came  up  gasping  and 
panting,  and  sobbed  out,  "  Oh !  my  dear  Mamma, 
come  and  kiss  me  'fore  I  die." 

Every  body  laughed — for  there  was  no  dan- 
ger— except  his  kind  Mother.  A  tear  stared  to 
her  eye,  for  she  knew  her  dear  little  son  really 
thought  he  was  dying,  and  would  never  see  her 
again.  But  in  a  little  while  he  felt  better,  and, 
after  his  Mother  had  taken  him,  and  had  rubbed 
him  all  over  and  dressed  him,  and  he  had  run  up 
and  down  the  beach  with  William  and  the  other 
children,  he  felt  such  a  nice  warm  glow  all  over 
him,  that  he  forgot  all  about  his  fright. 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  85 

Pretty  soon  he  said,  "Mamma,  I  am  so 
hungry — I  am  as  hungry  as  a  little  bear." 

"That  is  because  you  have  been  in  the 
water,"  replied  his  Mother. 

"Are  the  fishes  always  hungry? — does  the 
water  make  them  hungry  too  V  said  Johnny. 

"I  believe  they  are  always  ready  to  eat," 
replied  his  Mother ;  "  you  know  that  they  are 
caught  by  bait.  This  bait  is  a  bit  of  a  clam  or 
a  little  worm,  put  upon  a  sharp  hook.  The  fish 
snap  at  the  bait,  and  the  hook  catches  them  in 
the  mouth.  Come,  little  hungry  fish,"  added 
his  Mother,  "  and  I  will  give  you  something  to 
eat;  but  I  will  not  put  it  on  a  hook  to  hurt 
you." 

The  next  day  the  little  boys  went  into  the 
water  again,  and,  although  Johnny  made  up  a 
doleful  face,  he  did  not  think  he  should  die  this 
time ;  and,  when  he  saw  the  other  children 
laughing  and  splashing  each  other,  and  crying 
"  Duck  me  again — what  fun  we  are  having,"  he 

7 


86  aunt  fanny's 

tried  to  like  it  too,  and  after  a  little  while  did 
begin  to  like  it ;  for,  when  children  try  to  over- 
come their  foolish  fears,  they  will  almost  always 
succeed,  and  be  rewarded  as  Johnny  was,  by  the 
pleasure  they  enjoy,  and  the  happiness  they  give 
to  their  parents. 

After  a  few  days,  Johnny  got  to  be  so  brave, 
that  he  was  the  first  to  run  down  to  the  beach 
and  jump  into  his  Father's  arms,  and  he  cried 
louder  than  any,  "  Duck  me  again,"  and  splashed 
every  body  that  came  near  him ;  and  both  Wil- 
liam and  Johnny  got  so  strong,  and  ate  so 
heartily,  and  had  such  geat  red  cheeks,  that 
when  they  went  home  to  New- York,  a  few 
weeks  after,  their  friends  hardly  knew  them, 
and  Johnny  never  again  had  any  foolish  fears 
about  going  into  the  water. 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  87 


THE  MAY  QUEEN. 

"  Mothee,"  said  Frederick  Stanley,  "  is  it  not 
wrong  to  treat  servants  unkindly  ?" 

"  What  makes  you  ask  that  question  V  an- 
swered his  Mother.  a  "What  can  have  put  that 
into  your  head  V 

"  Nothing — I  don't  know,"  replied  he,  look- 
ing at  his  sister  Kate,  who  was  sitting  near  him, 
working  a  pair  of  slippers. 

Mrs.  Stanley  saw  that  there  was  something 
on  their  mind,  so  she  laid  down  her  book,  and 
tried  to  draw  it  out.     She  began : 

"  What  is  the  reason  that  your  little  Scottish 
friend  Jessie  has  not  been  here  lately  I  I  thought 
that  you,  Kate,  could  not  take  a  walk,  with  any 


88 

pleasure,  without  her,  and  Fred  has  become  quite 
a  beau,  since  her  arrival.  I  am  afraid  you  have 
done  or  said  something  to  offend  her." 

"Fred,"  said  Kate, — who  was  two  years 
younger  than  her  brother,  and  much  smaller, 
and  had  a  great  respect  for  him, — "Fred,  do 
you  tell  Mother." 

Fred  gave  his  pantaloons  a  little  pull,  shook 
the  hair  away  from  his  face,  half  laughed,  and  did 
not  speak  a  word ;  but  Kate,  like  a  real  little  wo- 
man, could  not  keep  the  secret  a  moment  longer. 
"  We  have  had  a  quarrel,  Mother ;  that's  all !" 

"  '  A  quarrel !  that's  all !'  "  said  her  Mother. 
"  That's  a  great  deal  too  much ;  but  what  did 
you  find  to  quarrel  about  ?" 

"  Why,  Mother,"  answered  Fred,  getting  over 
his  bashfulness,  now  that  the  secret  was  out,  "  it 
was  all  about  treating  those  who  were  beneath 
us  with  kindness." 

"  Well  done !"  exclaimed  his  Mother.  "  Let 
m  hear  what  you  had  to  say  upon  the  subject." 


CHKISTMAS    STOKIES.  89 

"  I  said  it  was  a  sliame  to  abuse  those  who 
were  poorer  than  we  were ;  that  in  God's  eyefc 
all  were  equal.  I  could  not  bear  to  hear  Jessie 
say  that  she  had  her  own  servant  at  home,  and 
when  this  servant  did  any  thing  to  displease  her 
she  would  pinch  and  slap  her.  I  told  her  she 
was  a  downright  wicked  girl." 

"Oh,  shocking!  shocking!"  said  Mrs.  Stan- 
ley. "  And  my  sweet  little  Kate,  did  you  too 
stand  up  for  kindness  to  servants  ?" 

"  I  did  all  I  could,  dear  Mother,"  she  replied, 
a  but  Fred  did  the  most." 

a  Well,  tell  me,  what  else  did  you  say." 

"  I  told  her,"  said  Fred,  hesitating  a  little, 
'  that  here  in  our  own  country,  we  said  '  if  you 
please'  and  '  thank  you,'  when  a  servant  did  any 
thing  for  us,  and  that  she  had  better  go  back  to 
Scotland,  and  not  stay  another  day  in  a  place 
where  she  was  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  pinch- 
ing people." 

"  Oh,  Frederick !  Frederick !  how  could  a  boy 


90  AUNT   FANNY'S 

of  your  politeness  be  so  rude  to  a  young  lady  ? 
That  was  a  great  mistake." 

Frederick  looked  mortified,  and  Kate  hung 
her  head.  "But  what  happened  after  that?" 
asked  Mrs.  Stanley. 

"  Oh,  she  was  so  angry  that  she  went  away, 
and  we  have  not  seen  her  since.  I  am  very 
sorry ;  but  it  can't  be  helped  now." 

"  No,"  said  Kate,  a  we  can't  help  it  now." 

"  But,  my  dear  children,"  said  their  Mother, 
"  I  think  you  owe  Jessie  an  apology." 

UI  have  no  objection,"  said  Fred,  after  re- 
flecting a  moment,  "  if  you  think  I  have  been 
so  very  impolite ;  but  it  will  do  no  good." 

"  Well,"  said  Mrs.  Stanley,  "  it  must  be  done. 
Perhaps  I  can  assist  you  in  making  up  the  quar- 
rel. Next  Thursday,  you  know,  is  the  first  of 
May.  You  shall  have  a  little  party,  and  Jessie 
shall  be  Queen  of  May.  That  will  be  certain 
to  please  her." 

"  Jessie !   Queen !"  exclaimed  Kate.     "  You 


CHEISTMAS   STORIES.  91 

can't,  Mother,  you  can't.  Jessie  will  not  come ; 
I  am  sure  she  will  not  come.  I  do  not  believe 
she  will  ever  speak  to  us  again." 

"  I  tell  you  she  will  come,"  said  her  Mother ; 
"  and  she  will  be  Queen.  I  will  manage  it  for  you." 

"  Ah,  well,  Mother,"  said  Fred,  looking  at  his 
sister,  "  you  don't  know  Jessie  as  well  as  we  do. 
She  won't  forgive  us  so  easily." 

Company  now  came  in,  and  the  children  went 
to  their  studies.  In  the  afternoon  Mrs.  Stanley 
sent  a  polite  invitation  to  Jessie  and  her  parents 
to  pass  the  next  Thursday  evening  at  her  house, 
and  as  they  were  sitting  at  the  tea-table,  the 
answer  was  returned. 

"There,"  said  Mrs.  Stanley,  "one  point  is 
gained ;  they  will  all  come." 

"  They  may  come,"  said  Frederick,  "  but  she 
won't  be  civil  to  us,  I  know." 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  preparing  the 
crown,  throne,  and  flowers,  &c,  and  Frederick 
set  himself  to  work  to  learn  by  heart  some  lines 
his  Mother  had  written  for  the  occasion. 


92  aunt  fanny's 

Thursday  evening  arrived,  and  the  children, 
though  afraid  of  Jessie's  cold  looks,  were  in  good 
spirits.  Kate  came  into  the  parlor,  and  found 
Fred  before  a  large  glass,  making  his  speech,  and 
practising  the  most  graceful  bows  and  gestures. 

a  Goodness !"  she  exclaimed,  a  how  light  and 
beautiful  the  room  looks !  Oh,  Fred,  I  hope  we 
shall  have  a  pleasant  time." 

The  arrival  of  the  company  now  interrupted 
them,  and  when  nearly  all  had  come,  Mrs.  Stan- 
ley told  her  plan  with  regard  to  Jessie ;  and  this 
important  matter  was  just  settled,  when  that 
young  lady  and  her  parents  entered. 

Jessie,  not  knowing  the  honor  awaiting  her, 
was  very  stiff  and  grave  in  her  salutations.  Her 
large  dark  eyes  were  turned  away  from  Fred  and 
Kate,  yet  an  expression  about  her  pretty  mouth 
seemed  to  say, 

"  I  am  not  so  very  angry  as  you  think." 

"  She  looks  like  a  Queen,  don't  she  ?"  whis- 
pered Fred  to  his  sister. 


CHRISTMAS    STOEEES.  93 

"  She  is  stiff  enough,  at  any  rate,"  said  Kate. 

"  I  wonder  who  she  will  choose  for  her 
King  V  said  Fred. 

"  I  am  sure  I  don't  know,"  answered  Kate, 
looking  round.     "  I  suppose  the  biggest  boy." 

a  Dear  me  !"  said  Fred,  a  I  forget  that  I 
must  go  out  until  it  is  time  for  the  Address,"  and 
he  left  the  room,  to  await  his  Mother's  signal. 

Refreshments  were  now  handed  round  the 
room,  and  many  a  sly  glance  was  cast  upon  the 
unconscious  Jessie,  who  was  still  looking  very 
grave,  and  almost  cross,  till,  at  a  hint  from  his 
Mother,  Fred  made  his  appearance,  and  with 
blushing  face,  but  firm  voice,  pronounced  the  fol- 
lowing lines : 

"0  !  valiant  knights,  and  ladies  fair  ! 
I'm  very  glad  to  see  you  here  ; 
Your  happy  looks  and  eyes  so  bright, 
Have  quite  inspired  me  to-night. 
Though  I'm  unused  to  courtly  ways, 
My  choice  from  you  will  meet  with  praise. 


94 


Our  Western  land,  so  brave  and  free, 
Where  waves  the  flag  of  liberty, 
Can  yet,  while  all  our  hearts  approve, 
The  British  stranger  fondly  love. 
(No  looks  of  grave  distrust  are  seen,) 
Fair  Jessie  !  I  proclaim  you  Queen  ! 
And  kneeling  lowly  at  your  feet, 
To  be  your  knight  I  do  entreat. 
Now  deign  to  say  what  happy  one 
Amongst  us  all  shall  share  your  throne." 

Fred  rose  from  his  knees,  and  awaited  Jes- 
sie's reply. 

Her  anger  was  ail  gone,  but  she  was  so  sur- 
prised that  she  looked  down  and  did  not  say  a 
word. 

"  Well,"  thought  Fred,  "  I  knew  she  would 
act  so.    I  suppose  every  body  is  laughing  at  me." 

"  Jessie,"  said  her  Mother,  "  speak  quickly. 
"  Whom  will  you  have  for  King  ?" 

Jessie  blushed,  and  smiled,  and  whispered  in 
a  soft  little  voice,  "  Frederick." 

Astonished  and  delighted  by  this  kindness, 


CHKISTMAS    STOEIES.  95 

Fred  again  kneeled  down,  then  rising  he  took  her 
little  white  hand,  and  led  her  in  triumph,  followed 
by  all  the  company,  to  the  next  room,  where  a 
splendid  throne  had  been  erected.  A  beautiful 
crown  of  flowers  was  placed  on  Jessie's  head, 
and  gave  new  beauty  to  her  soft  and  curling 
brown  hair.  Frederick  also  had  a  handsome 
crown.  Sceptres  were  placed  in  their  hands,  and 
then  they  arranged  their  court.  Kate  was  made 
a  Duchess,  at  which  she  grew  quite  dignified ; 
there  were  plenty  of  Earls  and  Countesses,  and 
the  sweet  little  maids  of  honor  and  the  pages 
stood  behind  the  throne. 

They  then  formed  a  procession,  to  return  to 
the  parlor,  and  in  an  instant  a  march  burst  forth 
from  a  band  of  music  which  had  been  concealed 
for  the  purpose. 

At  this  unexpected  event,  hk  Majesty  jumped 
so  high  that  his  crown  tumbled  off,  and  the  Queen 
was  in  such  a  delightful  agitation  that  she  could 
not  confine  her  steps  to  a  walk,  and  so  the  King, 


96  aunt  fanny's 

and  the  Queen,  and  the  Duchess,  and  all  the  maids 
of  honor  and  pages,  ran  helter-skelter,  as  fast  as 
they  could,  and  took  places  for  dancing. 

Never  were  merrier  hearts  or  brighter  eyes 
than  now  leaped  and  shone  in  that  little  party. 
The  Queen  was  the  gayest  of  all,  and  the  King 
was  nearly  out  of  his  wits  with  joy,  to  find  him- 
self and  Jessie  once  more  friends.  Little  Kate 
got  so  tired  of  being  a  Duchess  that  she  skipped 
about  like  a  little  fairy,  and  all  the  lords  and  la- 
dies, and  maids  of  honor  and  pages,  were  so  mer- 
ry and  so  full  of  innocent  fun,  that  they  looked  a 
great  deal  more  like  little  republicans.  And  so 
the  happy  evening  concluded,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all.   ' 

The  next  morning,  Mrs.  Stanley  asked  her 
children  if  they  had  had  a  pleasant  party. 

"  Oh,  yes  !"  they  both  answered  ;  "  it  was 
perfectly  delightful ;  and  Jessie  was  as  pleasant 
as  she  could  be,  and  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
all  about  the  quarrel." 


CHEISTMAS   STOELES.  97 

"  She  behaved  very  well  indeed,"  said  Mrs. 
Stanley,  "  and  I  think  after  this  you  will  not  al- 
low any  thing  to  disturb  your  friendship.  Jessie 
is  a  good,  warm-hearted  girl,  but  she  has  been 
allowed  to  indulge  sometimes  in  fits  of  ill-tem- 
per, and  has  not  been  taught  to  be  good  to  those 
who  wait  upon  her.  If  you  were  to  talk  to  her 
with  kindness  and  forbearance,  you  would  con- 
vince her  that  this  was  wrong.  Her  own  heart 
would  soon  tell  her  so.  You  must  not  expect  her 
to  do  better  all  at  once ;  but  no  doubt,  with  a  little 
patience  on  your  part,  and  a  little  trying  on  hers, 
she  will  find  her  happiness  much  increased  by 
being  kind  to  those  beneath  her,  and  in  time  she 
will  feel  that  in  this  country  all  are  equals, 
though  for  one  night  she  was  a  May  Queen." 


98  aunt  fanny's 


THE  APPLE  DUMPLING. 

A  long  time  ago,  there  was  a  little  old  woman 
that  lived  away  off  in  the  woods.  She  lived  all 
by  herself,  in  a  little  cottage  with  only  two  rooms 
in  it,  and  she  made  her  living  by  knitting  blue 
woollen  stockings,  and  selling  them. 

One  morning  the  old  woman  brushed  up  the 
hearth  all  clean,  and  put  every  thing  in  order ; 
then  she  went  to  the  pantry  and  took  out  a  great 
black  pot,  and  filled  it  full  of  water,  and  hung  it 
over  the  fire,  and  then  she  sat  down  in  her  arm- 
chair by  the  fire.  She  took  her  spectacles  out 
of  her  pocket  and  put  them  on  her  nose,  and  be- 
gan to  knit  on  a  great  blue  woollen  stocking. 

Pretty  soon  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  wonder 
what  I  shall  have  for  dinner  ?     I  believe  I  will 


-Ob  dear!  oh  dear!  that's  bad!  that's  bad-:  cried  the  old  woman. 


CHEISTMAS   STOEEES.  99 

make  an  apple  dumpling."  So  she  put  her  knit- 
ting down,  and  took  her  spectacles  off  of  her  nose, 
and  put  them  in  her  pocket,  and  getting  out  of 
her  arm-chair,  she  went  to  the  cupboard  and  got 
three  nice  rosy-cheeked  apples.  Then  she  went 
to  the  knife-box  and  got  a  knife,  and  then  she 
took  a  yellow  dish  from  the  dresser,  and  sat 
down  in  her  arm-chair,  and  began  to  pare  the  ap- 
ples. 

After  she  had  pared  the  apples,  she  cut  each 
one  into  four  quarters.  Then  she  got  up  again, 
and  set  the  dish  of  apples  on  the  table,  and  went 
to  the  cupboard,  and  got  some  flour  and  a  lump  of 
butter.  Then  she  took  a  pitcher,  and  went  out 
of  doors  to  a  little  spring  of  water  close  by,  and 
filled  the  pitcher  with  clear,  cold  water.  So  she 
mixed  up  the  flour  and  butter,  and  made  them 
into  a  nice  paste  with  the  water  ;  and  then  she 
went  behind  the  door  and  took  down  a  rolling- 
pin  that  was  hung  up  by  a  string,  and  rolled  out 
the  paste,  and  put  the  apples  inside,  and  covered 


100  AUNT   FANNY'S 

the  apples  all  up  with  the  paste.  "  That  looks 
nice,"  said  the  old  woman.  So  she  tied  up  the 
dumpling  in  a  nice  clean  cloth,  and  put  it  info 
the  great  black  pot  that  was  over  the  fire. 

After  she  had  brushed  up  the  hearth  again, 
and  put  all  the  things  she  had  used  away,  she  sat 
down  in  her  arm-chair  by  the  fire,  and  took  her 
spectacles  out  of  her  pocket  and  put  them  on  her 
nose,  and  began  to  knit  on  the  big  blue  woollen 
stocking. 

She  knit  eight  times  round  the  stocking,  and 
then  she  said  to  herself,  "  I  wonder  if  the  dump- 
ling is  done  V  So  she  laid  down  her  knitting, 
and  took  a  steel  fork  from  the  mantelpiece,  and 
lifted  the  lid  of  the  pot  and  looked  in. 

As  she  was  looking  in,  her  spectacles  tumbled 
off  of  her  nose,  and  fell  into  the  pot. 

"  Oh  dear !  Oh  dear !— that's  bad,  that's  bad," 
said  the  old  woman. 

She  got  the  tongs,  and  fished  up  her  spec- 
tacles, and  wiped  them  with  the  corner  of  hpr 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.  101 

apron,  and  put  them  on  her  nose  again,  and  then 
she  stuck  the  fork  into  the  apple  dumpling. 

The  apples  were  hard.  "No,  no,  no,"  she 
said,  "  it  is  not  done  yet." 

So  she  put  on  the  lid  of  the  pot,  and  laid  the 
fork  on  the  mantelpiece,  and  sat  down  in  her 
arm-chair,  and  began  to  knit  again  on  the  big 
blue  woollen  stocking. 

She  knit  six  times  round  the  stocking,  and 
then  she  said  to  herself — "  I  wonder  if  the 
dumpling  is  done  ?" 

So  she  put  her  knitting  down,  and  took  the 
fork  from  the  mantelpiece,  and  lifted  the  lid  of 
the  pot,  and  looked  in. 

As  she  was  looking  in,  her  spectacles  tumbled 
off  of  her  nose,  and  fell  into  the  pot. 

"  Oh  dear !  Oh  dear !— that's  bad,  that's  bad," 
said  the  old  woman. 

She  got  the  tongs  and  fished  up  her  specta- 
cles, and  wiped  them  with  the  corner  of  her 
apron,   and  put  them  on  her  nose  again,  and 


102  aunt  fanny's 

took  the  fork  and  stuck  it  into  the  dumpling. 
The  apples  were  just  beginning  to  get  soft. 

"  No,  no,  no ;  it  is  not  quite  done  yet,"  said 
the  old  woman. 

So  she  put  on  the  lid  of  the  pot,  and  laid  the 
fork  on  the  mantelpiece,  and  sat  down  in  her 
arm-chair,  and  began  to  knit  again  on  the  big 
blae  woollen  stocking. 

She  knit  twice  round  the  stocking,  and  then 
she  said  to  herself — "  I  wonder  if  the  dumpling 
is  done  ?" 

So  she  laid  down  her  knitting,  and  took  the 
fork  from  the  mantelpiece,  and  lifted  the  lid  of 
the  pot,  and  looked  in. 

As  she  was  looking  in,  her  spectacles  tumbled 
off  of  her  nose,  and  fell  into  the  pot. 

"  Oh  dear !  Oh  dear  !— that's  bad,  that's  bad," 
said  the  old  woman. 

She  got  the  tongs  and  fished  up  her  spec- 
tacles, and  wiped  them  with  the  corner  of  her 
apron,  and  put  them  on  her  nose  again,  and  took 
the  fork  and  stuck  it  into  the  dumpling. 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.      .  103 

The  apples  were  quite  soft.  "Yes,  yes,  yes; 
the  dumpling  is  done,"  said  the  old  woman. 

So  she  took  the  dumpling  out  of  the  pot,  and 
untied  the  cloth,  and  turned  it  into  a  yellow  dish, 
and  set  it  upon  the  table. 

Then  she  went  to  the  cupboard  and  got  a 
plate,  and  then  to  the  knife-box  and  got  a  knife ; 
then  she  took  the  fork  from  the  mantelpiece,  and 
drew  her  arm-chair  close  up  to  the  table,  and  sat 
down  in  it,  and  cut  off  a  piece  of  the  dumpling, 
and  put  it  on  her  plate. 

It  was  very  hot,  and  it  smoked  a  great  deal, 
so  the  old  woman  began  to  blow  it.  She  blew 
very  hard.  As  she  was  blowing,  her  spectacles 
tumbled  off  of  her  nose,  and  fell  into  the  dump- 
ling. 

"  Oh  dear !  Oh  dear !— that's  bad,  that's  bad," 
said  the  old  woman. 

She  took  her  spectacles  out  of  her  plate,  and 
wiped  them  with  the  corner  of  her  apron,  and 
said  to  herself — "  I  must  get  a  new  nose.     My 


104  aunt  faknt's 

nose  is  so  little,  that  my  spectacles  will  not  stick 
on  my  nose." 

So  she  put  her  spectacles  into  her  pocket, 
and  began  to  eat  the  dumpling. 

It  was  quite  cool  now.  So  the  old  woman 
ate  it  all  up,  and  said  it  was  very  good  indeed. 


CHEISTMAS  STOEIES.  105 


THE  DENTIST. 

One  day  little  Emily's  Grandma  said  to 
her — u  My  dear  child,  you  must  go  with  me  to- 
day to  the  dentist's,  and  have  some  of  those 
teeth  pulled  out.  They  are  growing  so  fast  and 
so  crooked,  that  you  have  not  room  enough  in 
your  mouth  for  them  all." 

"  Dear  Grandma,"  said  the  little  girl,  "  will 
it  hurt  me  very  much  ?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear,"  replied  her  Grandma,  "  it 
will  hurt  you  a  great  deal,  but  you  must  try 
to  bear  the  pain ;  it  will  not  be  long." 

Poor  little  Emily  sighed,  and  the  tears  stood 
in  her  eyes.  She  knew  that  her  Grandmother 
always  told  her  the  exact  truth.     She  knew  that 


106  AUNT   FANNY'S 

she  would  suffer  a  great  deal  of  pain,  because  her 
Grandma  had  told  her  so. 

It  is  always  the  best  way  to  tell  a  little  boy 
or  girl  the  exact  truth.  If  Emily's  Grandma 
had  said  that  it  would  not  hurt  her  to  have  her 
teeth  pulled  out,  it  would  have  been  very  wrong, 
and  Emily  would  not  have  believed  her  another 
time,  when  she  was  to  have  any  thing  done  to 
her. 

This  little  girl  had  no  Mother.  Her  Mother 
was  dead,  and  her  Grandma  took  care  of  her, 
and  was  very  kind  to  her,  and  Emily  loved  her 
dearly,  and  so  she  made  up  her  mind  to  go  and 
have  her  teeth  out,  without  any  trouble,  because 
her  Grandma  was  in  bad  health,  and  she  knew 
that  if  she  cried  and  made  a  great  fuss  about  it, 
it  would  trouble  her,  and  perhaps  make  her  sick. 

Now  was  not  this  thoughtful  and  good,  in  a 
little  girl,  only  seven  years  old  ?  I  hope  all  the 
little  boys  and  girls  that  read  this  will  try  to  be 
as  good. 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  107 

After  dinner,  Emily  and  her  Grandma  put  on 
their  things,  and  went  to  the  dentist's  house. 
The  little  girl  trembled  when  the  door  was 
opened,  but  she  walked  in  without  saying  a 
word. 

They  went  into  the  parlor,  for  there  were 
some  persons  up  stairs  in  the  dentist's  room, 
and  they  had  to  wait. 

"Grandma,"  said  Emily,  "may  I  look  at 
the  books  on  the  table  ?  It  will  keep  me  from 
thinking  about  my  teeth." 

Her  Grandma  said  she  might,  and  the  little 
girl  was  soon  quite  interested  in  looking  at  the 
pictures  in  the  books,  and  showing  them  to  her 
Grandma. 

In  a  little  while  the  servant  came  to  tell  her 
she  could  go  up  stairs.  Her  heart  beat  fast,  but 
she  went  up  to  her  Grandmother,  and  said, 
"Dear  Grandma,  you  are  not  well;  you  look 
quite  pale  to-day.  Do  not  go  with  me ;  I  will 
go  alone,  and  I  promise  you  I  will  be  a  brave 
little  girl." 


108  AUNT   FAOTSTy's 

She  kissed  her  Grandma,  and  ran  out  of  the 
room. 

When  she  entered  the  room  up  stairs,  she 
saw  two  ladies  there.  She  stopped ;  but  the 
dentist  said,  "Come  in,  my  little  girl,  do  not 
be  afraid,  I  will  be  as  gentle  as  I  can." 

The  ladies  saw  that  she  was  alone,  so  one  of 
them  went  up  to  her  and  took  her  hand.  She 
was  an  old  lady,  and  wore  spectacles,  and  she 
looked  very  kind  and  good.  So  the  dear  little  girl 
let  the  dentist  lift  her  into  the  great  chair,  and 
take  off  her  hat,  and  the  old  lady  kept  hold  of 
her  hand,  and  said,  "  It  will  be  over  in  a  minute, 
my  dear  child,"  and  then  she  pressed  her  little 
hand  so  kindly,  that  Emily  felt  quite  comforted. 

The  other  lady  was  a  young  lady,  and  she 
too  felt  sorry  that  Emily  was  to  suffer.  She 
wanted  to  smooth  her  hair,  and  give  her  a  kiss ; 
but  she  thought  that  the  little  girl  might  be 
afraid  of  so  many  strangers,  so  she  sat  down 
very  quietly. 


CHEISTMAS   STOEEES.  109 

When  the  dentist  had  looked  into  Emily's 
month,  he  saw  that  four  teeth  must  come  out. 
So  he  got  the  instrument,  and  held  her  head 
tight  with  his  arm. 

Emily  turned  pale,  but  she  kept  quite  still, 
and  did  not  cry  or  scream ;  and  the  dentist 
pulled  out  the  four  teeth,  one  after  the  other, 
without  a  sound  from  her  lips. 

When  they  were  all  out,  some  large  tears 
came  from  her  eyes,  and  rolled  down  her  cheeks ; 
but  she  only  said  "  Thank  you,"  to  the  lady  that 
held  her  hand ;  and,  putting  her  handkerchief  to 
her  mouth,  she  ran  down  stairs. 

"My  darling  child,"  said  her  Grandma, 
"  how  well  you  have  behaved ;  I  did  not  hear 
the  least  noise." 

"No,  Grandma,"  replied  Emily,  "I  tried 
very  hard  not  to  scream ;  I  was  determined  to 
be  quite  still ;  and  a  good  old  lady  like  you, 
Grandma,  held  my  hand,  which  was  a  great 
comfort.  But,  oh !  Grandma,  it  did  hurt  me 
most   terribly.*1 


110  AUNT   FANNY'S 

"My  dear  child,  I  know  it  did,"  said  her 
Grandma ;  "  yon  are  the  best  little  girl  in  the 
world,  and  a  happiness  and  a  treasure  to  me." 

After  Emily  had  gone,  the  ladies  who  had 
witnessed  her  good  conduct,  and  admired  her 
courage,  asked  her  name  and  where  she  lived, 
and  one  of  them,  the  young  lady,  sent  her  a 
pretty  little  gold  ring  with  a  blue  stone  in  it, 
and  a  little  note  containing  these  words : 

"  For  the  dear  little  girl,  who  had  the  courage 
to  bear  a  great  pain  nobly." 

Emily  was  very  much  pleased  with  this  little 
present ;  it  was  so  unexpected.  She  could  not 
find  out  who  had  sent  it  to  her. 

I  hope  all  the  little  boys  and  girls  will  read 
this  story  with  attention,  and  when  they  go  to 
the  dentist's  they  will  think  of  Emily,  and  try 
to  imitate  her  good  conduct. 


James  putting  his  father's  wig  on  the  poor  boy's  head. 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  Ill 


THE  WIG. 

Julia  and  her  brother  James  were  very 
early,  one  cold  winter  morning,  sitting  in  the 
basement.  They  were  not  wicked  children,  but 
they  were  very  thoughtless,  and  sometimes  they 
did  a  great  deal  of  mischief. 

I  am  afraid  they  were  doing  mischief  now, 
for  Julia  was  sitting  by  the  window,  cutting  up 
Mamma's  apron  to  make  a  dress  for  her  doll ; 
and  James  was  kneeling  on  the  rug,  pulling 
pieces  of  worsted  out  of  it  and  throwing  them 
into  the  fire,  and  seemed  very  much  amused  as 
he  watched  them  rolling  about  and  curling  up 
with  the  heat. 

While  they  were  thus  employed,  two  children 
passed  the  window. 


112  AUNT   FANNY'S 

"  Only  look,  brother,"  said  Julia,  "  at  these 
poor  children.  How  cold  they  must  be  !  see,  the 
little  boy  has  no  hat  on,  and  his  toes  are  corning 
out  of  his  shoes,  and  the  little  girl's  frock  is  all 
ragged." 

"Let  us  call  them  in,"  said  James,  "and 
they  can  warm  themselves  by  the  fire." 

As  James  said  this,  he  tapped  on  the  window, 
and  the  little  children  came  to  the  basement 
door.  James  ran  and  opened  the  door,  and  said, 
"  Come  in,  poor  children,  and  warm  yourselves." 
He  placed  his  own  and  his  sister's  little  chair 
for  them  by  the  fire,  and  then  Julia  and  he  went 
into  a  corner  of  the  room  to  consult  together 
what  they  should  give  them,  to  make  them 
warm. 

Now  the  Father  of  these  children  had  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  his  hair,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  wear  a  wig.  Every  night,  when  he 
went  to  bed,  he  used  to  take  off  his  wig,  and 
hang  it  upon  a  nail  in  his  dressing-room,  and 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.  113 

put  on  a  white  night-cap  with  a  long  tassel  at 
the  end  of  it. 

The  morning  that  I  am  telling  about,  he  was 
not  yet  up,  as  it  was  very  early;  and  the  wig 
was  hanging  on  the  nail,  as  I  have  told  you. 

James  looked  at  the  poor  little  boy.  He  saw 
that  his  ears  were  very  red  with  the  cold,  and  he 
said  to  his  sister,  "I  will  go  up  stairs,  and  find 
something  to  pnt  on  his  head." 

So  he  ran  up  stairs  very  fast,  and  went  into 
his  Father's  dressing-room  and  looked  all  round. 
Presently  he  saw  the  wig  hanging  on  the  nail. 
"Oh!"  said  he  to  himself,  "that  is  just  the 
thing.  It  will  come  all  over  the  poor  boy's 
ears,  and  keep  them  very  warm  indeed." 

So  this  thoughtless  little  fellow  climbed  up 
on  a  chair,  and  pulled  the  wig  off  the  nail,  and 
then  went  into  the  closet  and  got  a  pair  of  new 
boots  of  his  own;  and  running  down  as  fast 
as  he  could,  he  pulled  the  wig  over  the  poor 
boy's  ears,  and  helped  him  on  with  the  boots. 


114  AUNT   FAJ^STY's 

They  fitted  exactly,  for  James  and  lie  were  very 
nearly  of  the  same  size. 

While  he  was  doing  this,  Jnlia  had  dressed 
the  little  girl  in  a  nice  warm  frock  of  her  own, 
and  also  made  her  a  present  of  her  school  muff, 
and  the  little  beggar  children  went  away,  highly 
delighted  with  their  good  fortune,  and  were  out 
of  sight  long  before  any  one  had  come  into  the 
room  to  prevent  all  this  mischief. 

"When  their  Father  got  up,  he  opened  the 
door  of  his  bed-room,  which  led  into  the  dressing- 
room,  and  began  to  dress  himself.  Presently  he 
went  to  the  side  of  the  room  where  he  had  hung 
up  his  wig  the  night  before.  The  nail  was 
empty.  There  was  no  wig  on  it.  He  looked 
down  on  the  carpet,  and  on  all  the  chairs,  and 
in  all  the  drawers,  but  there  was  no  wig  to  be 
found.  He  rang  the  bell,  and  said  to  the  servant, 
"Do  you  know  any  thing  about  my  wig?" 

But  the  servant  said  she  had  not  been  in  the 
room.     She  did  not  know  where  it  was. 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  115 

Now  only  see,  what  trouble  these  children 
had  made  for  their  kind  Father;  and  how 
ashamed  and  frightened  they  were,  when  they 
saw  him  come  into  the  basement  room  with  his 
night-cap  on,  and  their  Mother  with  him,  looking 
very  grave,  for  she  was  afraid  that  the  children 
knew  more  about  the  wig  than  any  body  else. 

"James,"  said  his  Father,  "do  you  know 
where  my  wig  is?" 

At  first  James  was  afraid  to  speak;  but 
although  these  children  were  heedless,  and  fond 
of  doing  mischief,  they  were  not  liars.  So 
James  came  close  to  his  Father,  and  said,  "Dear 
Papa,  I  will  tell  you  the  truth.  I  am  afraid  I 
have  been  very  naughty.  I  gave  your  wig  to  a 
poor  boy  who  had  no  hat,  and  I  gave  him  my 
new  boots  too,  for  his  shoes  were  full  of  holes. 
I  am  very  sorry,  Papa.  Please  to  punish  me, 
and  forgive  Julia." 

"  Why,  what  has  Julia  been  doing  ?"  said  her 
Mamma  and  Papa  at  the  same  time. 


116  aunt  fakntt's 

"  I  gave  tlie  little  girl  my  new  frock,  and  my 
school  muff,"  said  Julia,  "she  looked  so  cold. 
Her  little  hands  were  nearly  frozen." 

"  My  dear  children,"  said  their  Father,  "  I  do 
not  blame  you  for  wishing  to  be  kind  to  the  poor, 
but  do  you  not  see  how  wrong  it  is  to  be  so 
thoughtless,  and  what  trouble  you  give  your 
Mother  and  me  by  such  conduct?  If  you  do 
not  think  before  you  act,  you  will  always  be  in 
mischief,  and  perhaps  do  a  great  deal  of  injury. 
To  make  you  remember  this — you,  Julia,  must 
go  to  school  for  two  weeks  without  a  muff,  and 
wear  your  old  dress ;  and  you,  James,  must  have 
your  old  boots  patched,  and  wear  them  instead 
of  the  new  ones  which  you  gave  to  the  poor 
boy." 

The  children  submitted  to  this  punishment 
without  a  murmur;  but  they  were  dreadfully 
grieved  when  they  saw  the  trouble  they  had 
made  for  their  dear  Father,  who  could  not  leave 
the  house,  or  attend  to  his  business  for  two  whole 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.  117 

days,  as  it  took  all  that  time  to  have  another  wig 
made  for  him.  They  even  could  not  laugh  when 
the  kitten  climbed  up  the  back  of  his  chair,  and 
tried  to  play  with  the  tassel  of  his  night-cap ; 
and  ever  after,  when  they  were  going  to  do  a 
thoughtless  thing,  they  would  recollect  their 
Father's  wig  in  time  to  stop ;  and  at  last  they 
got  to  be  as  careful  and  thoughtful,  as  they  were 
before  heedless  and  mischievous. 


11-8  AUNT   FANNT'S 


THE  BOYS'  SCHOOL. 

Not  very  long  ago,  Mr.  Harrison  kept  a 
boarding-school  for  little  boys,  in  a  delightful 
village  in  Connecticut.  He  took  twenty  boys  to 
educate,  and  he  was  so  kind,  and  had  such  a 
pleasant  way  of  teaching,  that  the  boys  were 
happier  with  him  than  they  would  have  been  at 
home. 

When  the  boys  came  in  the  spring,  Mr.  Har- 
rison gave  to  each  of  them  a  little  plot  of  ground 
for  a  garden ;  and  the  little  fellows  were  very 
busy  during  play-hours,  in  preparing  and  arrang- 
ing their  gardens.  They  had  permission  to  go 
to  the  gardener  and  get  just  what  seeds  they 
wanted ;  so  some  of  the  boys  planted  melons  and 
cucumbers,  and  some  pumpkins  and  radishes,  and 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  119 

• 

two  of  them  made  an  elegant  flower-garden. 
They  put  their  ground  together,  and  erected  a 
little  hill  in  the  centre,  with  a  path  all  round  it, 
and  all  the  borders  they  planted  with  lady-slip- 
pers, and  coxcombs,  and  mignonette,  and  sweet 
alysum,  and  many  other  pretty  flowers ;  and  when 
the  flowers  came  out,  their  garden  gave  quite  a 
brilliant  appearance  to  the  place. 

The  boys  had  also  a  very  large  play-ground, 
and  in  it,  their  kind  teacher  had  had  a  number  of 
gymnastic  fixtures  put  up,  for  their  healthy  exer- 
cise and  amusement.  There  was  a  very  high 
pole,  with  four  strong  ropes  fastened  to  the  top 
of  it,  and  an  iron  ring  at  the  ends  of  the  ropes. 
The  boys  would  take  hold  of  the  rings,  and  run 
round  as  fast  as  they  could ;  then  lifting  their 
feet  off  the  ground,  away  they  would  fly  in  the 
air,  round  and  round,  like  so  many  little  crazy 
monkeys.  There  was  one  little  chap  that  could 
climb  up  one  of  the  ropes  like  a  cat,  and  hang 
upon  the  top  of  the  pole. 


120  AUNT  FANNY'S 

Then  they  had  swinging  bars,  and  jump- 
ing bars,  with  a  spring-board  to  jnmp  from, 
and  wooden  horses,  and  a  climbing  pole,  and 
several  other  things  ;  but  what  was  better 
than  all,  they  had  a  funny  little  ragged  pony, 
and  a  short-legged,  long-eared  donkey,  for  their 
especial  use,  and  many  were  the  fine  rides  they 
had  on  their  backs. 

Sometimes,  to  be  sure,  the  pony  had  a  fashion 
of  dancing  a  slow  jig  on  his  hind  legs,  with  his 
fore  feet  in  the  air ;  but  the  boys  were  used  to 
that,  and  stuck  on  like  wax,  until  the  dance  was 
finished;  then  the  pony  would  trot  off  very 
peaceably. 

The  donkey,  too,  had  a  way  of  putting  his 
nose  to  the  ground,  and  pitching  his  rider,  head 
over  heels,  on  the  grass.  But  the  boys  were  used 
to  that  too,  and  did  not  mind  it  in  the  least. 
They  would  jump  up  and  shake  themselves,  and 
try  again,  and  by  dint  of  poking  and  punching 
the  sides  of  the  sulky  little  animal,  he  would  af- 


CHEISTMAS    STOEIES.  121 

ter  a  while  make  up  his  mind  to  go.  When  he 
had  once  done  that,  it  was  all  right.  You  would 
think  he  was  the  most  amiable  donkey  in  the 
world.  The  pony's  name  was  Napoleon,  and 
the  boys  called  the  donkey  "  Old  Pudding-head." 

Twice  a  week,  during  the  summer,  Mr.  Har- 
rison took  the  boys  to  bathe  in  a  fine  pond,  where 
such  as  could  would  swim,  and  the  rest  would 
tumble  about  in  the  water ;  and  altogether,  he 
was  so  kind  to  them  that  the  boys  thought  there 
never  was  a  better  teacher,  or  such  a  famous 
boarding-school. 

I  have  not  yet  told  you  that  they  learned  any 
thing.  I  suppose  you  all  think  that  playing  was 
the  principal  thing  they  went  to  that  school  for. 
But  if  you  do,  you  make  a  great  mistake,  for  the 
greater  part  of  every  day  was  spent  in  the  school- 
room. 

Mr.  Harrison  made  school-time  very  pleasant. 
He  seldom  had  to  punish  a  boy  for  bad  conduct 
or  neglect  in  getting  his  lessons.     He  always  en- 


122 


couraged  them  to  ask  questions  about  their 
studies,  and  told  them  never  to  learn  any  thing 
by  rote,  like  a  parrot,  but  to  come  to  him  when 
they  did  not  understand  a  lesson ;  and  he  always 
made  it  so  dear  that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  learn. 
Sometimes  a  boy  would  ask  a  foolish  question, 
which  would  make  the  rest  laugh ;  but  then  Mr. 
Harrison  would  say  it  was  better  to  be  laughed 
at  for  trying  to  learn,  than  to  grow  up  a  dunce. 

In  this  way  the  boys  would  improve  so  much, 
both  in  mind  and  body,  that  their  parents  left 
them  with  Mr.  Harrison  as  long  as  he  could  keep 
them ;  and  both  the  boys  and  their  parents  were 
very  sorry  when  the  time  came  for  them  to  leave, 
for  Mr.  Harrison  would  not  take  any  boy  after 
he  was  fourteen  years  of  age. 

One  afternoon,  after  school,  the  boys  were  all 
busy  weeding  in  their  gardens,  when  one  of  them 
suddenly  cried  out,  "Phil,  do  you  know  how 
long  it  is  to  the  Fourth  of  July  V 

"  To  be  sure  I  do,"  answered  Philip ;  "  it  k 
just  four  weeks  and  four  days." 


CHEISTMAS    STOEEES.  123 

"So  it  is,  I  declare,"  said  Thomas,  the  first 
boy  who  had  spoken.  "  Boys,  I'll  tell  you  what 
we  will  do.  Let  us  all  write  to  our  parents,  for 
an  immense  lot  of  fireworks  ;  then,  we  will  club 
together,  and  keep  all,  except  the  crackers,  for  a 
grand  display  of  fireworks,  in  the  evening." 

"  Oh  yes,  yes,"  cried  all  the  boys,  "  that  is 
an  excellent  idea." 

"  I  will  ask  Mr.  Harrison,"  said  Phil,  "  to  help 
us  fix  the  wheels  and  so  forth,  for  all  I  ever  fixed 
myself,  stuck  fast,  and  would  not  go  round  at 
all." 

a  I  mean  to  write  for  lots  of  Eoman  candles," 
said  Frank,  "they  look  so  beautiful  going  up. 
They  look  like  planets  with  wings." 

"  ./will  go  largely  into  the  snakes  and  grass- 
hoppers," said  another  boy ;  "it  is  such  fun  to 
see  the  boys  cutting  round  to  get  out  of  the 
way." 

a  We'll  make  some  wooden  pistols,  to  put  the 
crackers  in,"  said  another  boy. 


124 


a  Yes,  and  I  will  send  for  a  little  brass  can- 
non that  my  uncle  Major  Brown  gave  me,"  said 
another. 

Just  then  the  hell  rang  for  tea,  and  the  boys, 
putting  their  little  rakes  and  hoes  into  their  tool- 
house,  ran  in  to  wash  their  faces  and  hands,  and 
brush  their  hair.  Then  they  took  off  their  over- 
alls or  coarse  pantaloons,  which  they  wore  when 
at  work  in  the  garden,  and  hung  them  up  in  the 
play-room.  They  had  a  nice  large  play-room  for 
playing  when  the  weather  was  unpleasant. 

It  was  astonishing  what  large  quantities  of 
bread  and  butter,  and  apple-sauce,  these  boys 
consumed  for  their  supper,  for  working  out  of 
doors  in  the  fresh  country  air,  is  sure  to  make 
people  hungry,  and  boys  especially  are  always 
ready  for  eating.  After  supper  Mr.  Harrison 
made  a  prayer,  while  all  the  boys  knelt  at  their 
chairs  around  the  table.  Then  they  were  per- 
mitted to  play  out  of  doors  again  until  the  sunset. 
Phil  and  Frank  allowed  themselves  to  be  har- 


CHEISTMAS    STOKEES.  125 

nessed  to  a  hand-wagon,  and  galloped  off  at  full 
speed,  with  two  of  the  smaller  boys  in  it.  The 
rest  had  a  game  at  leap-frog,  and  Mr.  Harrison 
and  his  family  sat  in  the  porch  watching  and  ad- 
miring the  gorgeous  tints  lent  to  the  clouds  by 
the  rays  of  the  setting  sun,  and  sometimes 
laughing  heartily  at  the  capers  of  the  boys. 

At  length  the  sun  sank  beneath  the  horizon, 
and  Mr.  Harrison  said,  "  Come  in,  boys."  He 
never  had  to  speak  more  than  once,  for  the  boys 
were  so  well  governed  that  they  found  it  to  their 
advantage  and  happiness  to  obey  directly.  So 
they  came  in  as  quietly  as  they  could,  and  went 
into  the  study,  where  Mr.  Harrison  soon  joined 
them,  and  read  aloud  an  interesting  book  of  trav- 
els for  an  hour.  Then  they  went  up  stairs  to 
bed. 

One  evening,  not  long  after  this,  the  boys 
were  all  together  in  the  sitting-room.  Philip  was 
reading  a  book  in  which  was  an  anecdote  about  a 
bad  boy  who  had  frightened  another,  by  coming 


126  aunt  fanny's 

into  his  room  at  night  with  his  face  apparently  in 
a  blaze,  and  looking,  as  the  terrified  child  thought, 
like  a  flaming  dragon.  All  at  once  Phil  shut  the 
book,  and  said,  "  I  say  fellows,  I  will  show  you 
a  funny  thing,  if  you  will  put  out  the  light,  and 
it  will  be  useful  to  you  too.  But  first,  let  me 
read  this  story  to  you,  and  then  we  will  try  the 
game,  and  none  of  you  little  chaps  will  be  fright- 
ened, because  you  will  know  what  it  is." 

So  saying,  he  read  the  story,  which  interested 
the  boys  very  much  indeed,  and  made  them  all 
eager  for  Philip's  experiment. 

Phil  took  a  box  of  locofoco  matches  from  the 
mantelpiece,  and  gave  some  to  each  of  the  boys ; 
but  suddenly  he  cried,  "  Wait  a  moment :  I  will 
be  back  before  you  can  say  Jack  Robinson,"  and 
ran  out  of  the  room. 

He  went  out  to  ask  Mr.  Harrison's  permission 
to  try  this  experiment.  Mr.  Harrison  said,  "  I 
am  glad,  my  dear  boy,  you  have  come  first  to  me ; 
I  believe  I  can  always  trust  you.     You  may  try 


CHEISTMAS    STORIES.  127 

your  plan,  and  I  will  go  with  yon  and  join  in 
your  amusement." 

The  boys  were  glad  to  see  their  teacher. 
He  often  helped  them  in  their  plays ;  and  they 
were  never  afraid  to  frolic  and  laugh  before  him. 

So  Phil  blew  out  the  light,  and  then  told  the 
boys  to  take  a  match,  and  wet  it  on  the  tip  of 
the  tongue,  and  rub  it  on  the  sides  of  their  faces, 
and  they  would  soon  have  a  pair  of  fiery  whis- 
kers apiece,  without  its  burning  them  in  the 
least. 

In  a  moment  all  the  boys  had  flaming  whis- 
kers, and  streaks  of  flame  all  over  their  faces. 

Peals  of  laughter  resounded  from  all  sides. 
Such  a  troop  of  little  blazing  imps  were  never 
seen  before.  Some  had  noses  on  fire,  some  ears ; 
some  made  fiery  circles  round  their  eyes,  and 
some  rubbed  their  fingers  with  the  matches — 
always  taking  care  to  wet  them  first — and  ran 
after  the  rest. 

Only  one  person  was  frightened ;  and  that 


128  aunt  fanny's 

was  because  she  had  not  been  let  into  the  secret. 
This  was  a  servant  girl,  who  opened  the  door, 
and  seeing  a  room  fall  of  dark  figures,  with  faces 
on  fire,  dancing,  and  laughing,  and  capering 
about,  she  ran,  screaming,  up  stairs,  crying 
murder !  fire !  help !  with  all  her  might,  which 
made  the  boys  laugh  till  they  were  nearly  suffo- 
cated. But  Phil  ran  after  her,  and  with  much 
difficulty  persuaded  her  that  they  were  really 
human  beings,  and  good  friends  of  hers. 

After  they  had  danced  about  for  some  time, 
Mr.  Harrison  advised  them  to  go  and  wash  their 
faces,  and  said  that  they  had  better  not  play  this 
game  again,  as  some  accident  might  occur:  a 
match  might  get  lighted  and  set  fire  to  their 
clothes.  He  said  he  had  been  willing  to  let  them 
try  it  once,  for  then  they  would  not  be  frightened 
if  any  wicked  or  thoughtless  person  should  play 
a  trick  of  this  kind  upon  them.  So  the  boys  put 
up  the  matches,  and  went  off  to  bed  full  of  the 
fun  they  had  had,  and  saying,  that  if  they  saw 


CHRISTMAS   STORIES.  129 

a  person  with  Ms  nose  on  fire,  coming  into  their 
rooms  at  night,  they  would  take  hold  of  it,  and 
give  it  a  good  pinching. 

During  this  time  each  of  the  boys  had  writ- 
ten home  for  fireworks ;  and  for  two  or  three 
days  before  the  glorious  Fourth,  all  kinds  of 
boxes,  directed  to  the  different  boys,  had  been 
left  at  Mr.  Harrison's  house,  and  safely  locked 
up  by  him,  until  the  right  time. 

At  last  the  day  came.  The  boys  tumbled 
out  of  bed  in  the  greatest  hurry,  dressed,  and 
went  out  on  the  lawn,  where  they  gave  nine 
hearty  cheers ;  three  for  the  day,  three  for  Mr. 
Harrison,  and  three  for  fun.  After  that  they 
all  ran  into  the  play-room,  where  they  found 
the  boxes,  which  had  been  put  there  the  night 
before. 

Never  were  boxes  opened  so  quickly.  They 
tore  off  the  tops,  and  for  some  moments  nothing 
was  heard  on  all  sides  but  "  Only  look  here,"  and 
"Just  see  here;"  "Fellows,  here  is  my  cannon;" 
"  Here  are  lots  of  Koman  candles,"  <fcc. 


130 


They  had  crackers  enough  between  them 
all  to  keep  them  busy  the  whole  clay,  and  they 
soon  got  to  work  at  them,  and  such  a  popping 
and  cracking  began,  as  frightened  all  the  cats 
and  dogs  about  the  house  into  the  woods. 

It  was  fortunate  that  the  house  was  situated 
on  a  hill,  away  from  any  other ;  so  Mr.  Harrison 
let  them  make  as  much  noise  as  they  pleased, 
without  fear  of  disturbing  any  neighbors. 

Presently  the  bell  rang  for  prayers,  and 
directly  after  that  they  had  breakfast ;  but  the 
nice  hasty-pudding  and  molasses  were  not  so 
much  in  favor  as  usual,  for  the  boys  were  so  full 
of  the  Fourth  of  July,  that  they  had  no  room 
for  pudding. 

Nearly  all  the  fireworks  were  piled  up  on 
a  seat  against  the  wall  in  the  play-room.  The 
boys  were  firing  their  crackers  from  their  wooden 
pistols,  at  some  distance  from  the  house. 

For  some  time  every  thing  went  on  well. 
Mr.  Harrison  had  strictly  forbidden  them  to  have 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  131 

any  fire  in  or  near  the  play-roorn,>  and  they  were 
careful  to  obey  him.  But,  alas  !  I  must  tell  you 
what  happened  through  the  thoughtlessness  of 
one  of  the  boys.  He  was  the  youngest  and 
smallest  of  them  all.  He  had  fired  off  the 
crackers  he  had  taken  out,  and  he  ran  into  the 
play-room  to  get  more.  He  held  in  his  hand 
a  piece  of  punk.  All  boys  know  that  this  is 
what  they  use  to  light  their  fireworks,  as  it 
burns  very  slowly,  and  lasts  very  long.  The 
punk  which  the  little  fellow  held  was  burning. 
He  had  forgotten  to  lay  it  down.  He  went  to 
the  seat  where  the  fireworks  were,  and  began 
to  pull  them  about  to  find  his  crackers. 

As  he  was  leaning  over,  the  punk  slipped 
from  his  fingers,  and  fell  into  the  midst  of  the 
combustibles. 

The  little  fellow  was  so  terribly  frightened 
at  this,  that  he  rushed  out  of  the  room,  without 
trying  to  pick  it  up. 

In  a  moment  the  fireworks  all  began  to  go 


132  aunt  fanny's 

off  together.  Pop !  crack !  fizz !  bang !  whizz ! 
went  the  elegant  wheels  and  the  crackers,  the 
grasshoppers,  the  Roman  candles  and  the  snakes, 
while  the  smoke  rushed  through  the  house. 

Mr.  Harrison  ran  out  of  his  room  where  he 
was  reading,  and  saw,  instantly,  that  the  house 
was  in  great  danger  of  burning  up.  The  boys 
heard  the  noise,  and  came  flying  back  to  the  play- 
room, to  save  what  they  could ;  but  it  was  impos- 
sible to  enter.  The  room  was  black  with  smoke, 
and  they  looked  on  dismayed,  as  they  heard  the 
popping  and  banging  of  their  precious  fireworks, 
while  "  Who  did  it  P  "  Who  did  it  f*  was  asked 
on  all  sides. 

Mr.  Harrison  instantly  shut  all  the  doors  lead- 
ing to  the  play-room,  and,  quicker  than  I  can  tell 
you,  he  got  some  pails  of  water,  and  threw  them 
into  the  room.  After  some  effort,  he  succeeded 
in  quenching  the  fire,  and  ending  this  display  of 
fireworks,  which  was  a  very  different  one  from 
what  had  been  intended. 


CHEISTMAS   STOEIES.  133 

But  what  a  sight  presented  itself!  There 
lay  the  blackened  remnants  of  the  wheels  and 
Roman  candles,  and  a  large  hole  was  burned  in 
the  side  of  the  room.  The  overalls  of  the  boys, 
which  hung  just  above,  were  burned,  some 
one  leg,  some  both ;  and  the  room  looked  like 
desolation. 

After  the  fright,  and  hurry,  and  confusion 
were  over,  Mr.  Harrison  called  all  the  boys  into 
the  study.  He  looked  very  much  offended, 
indeed;  and  asked  in  a  stern  voice,  "Which 
boy  went  into  the  play-room  with  fire?" 

The  poor  little  fellow  who  had  done  the 
mischief  was  crying  bitterly.  It  was  very  easy 
to  see  that  he  was  the  guilty  one,  for  the  rest 
looked  grave,  but  not  confused. 

"Come  to  me,  Edwin,"  said  Mr.  Harrison, 
"  and  tell  me  if  you  have  disobeyed  me ;  don't 
be  afraid  to  speak  the  truth." 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  do  it,"  sobbed  the  little 
boy.     "  I  forgot  to  leave  my  punk  outside,  and  I 


134  aunt  fanny's 

dropped  it  by  accident.  I  ana  very,  very  sorry 
Mr.  Harrison.  I  am  afraid  all  the  boys  will  hate 
me,  because  I  have  spoiled  their  sport.  I  hope 
yon  will  forgive  me,  sir."  And  here  his  tears 
and  sobs  redoubled. 

"  Edwin,"  said  his  kind  teacher,  "  do  you  not 
know  that  my  house  might  have  been  burned 
to  the  ground  by  your  carelessness? — and  this 
night,  which  we  expected  to  spend  so  joyfully, 
we  might  have  been  without  a  roof  to  cover  us. 
I  must  punish  you  to  make  you  remember  this 
accident,  which  your  thoughtless  disobedience 
has  occasioned.  You  must  remain  in  the  study 
until  dinner-time.  The  rest  of  the  boys  may  go 
out." 

When  the  boys  were  out  on  the  lawn  again, 
they  got  together  in  a  knot,  to  talk  about  the 
accident.  Some  were  very  angry  with  Edwin, 
and  said  Mr.  Harrison  ought  to  have  given  him 
a  tremendous  flogging;  but  others  were  more 
generous.     They  were  just  as  sorry  for  the  loss 


CHRISTMAS    STORIES.  135 

of  tlieir  fireworks  ;  but,  when  they  looked  to- 
wards the  house,  and  saw  little  Edwin  gazing 
mournfully  at  them  from  the  study  window,  and 
wiping  away  the  tears  that  fell  from  his  eyes, 
they  were  more  sorry  for  him,  and  wished  that 
he  could  be  out  among  them.  Still,  they  knew 
it  was  right  that  he  should  be  punished. 

"  Come,  fellows,"  said  Phil,  when  they  had 
been  standing  there  talking  some  time, — "  come, 
let  us  go  and  see  if  any  thing  is  left." 

They  all  ran  to  the  play-room,  and  some  of 
the  boys  cried  out  to  Edwin,  "  Don't  cry,  little 
fellow,  we  forgive  you." 

"  Why  here,"  shouted  Phil — "  here's  a  lot  of 
Roman  candles  all  safe  and  sound.     Hurra  ! !" 

"  And  here  are  six  wheels  in  this  corner," 
cried  Thomas.  "  We  are  not  so  badly  off,  after 
all." 

The  boys  at  this  good  news  began  to  rum- 
mage under  the  pile  of  ruins,  and  managed  to 
collect  quite  a  respectable  quantity  of  fireworks. 


186  AUNT   FANNYS 

There  were  enough  left  to  make  a  display  with 
in  the  evening,  though  not  near  so  splendid  as 
they  had  intended. 

"  Hurra  !"  cried  the  boys,  "  we  have  plenty 
of  Fourth  of  July  left — we  ain't  dead  yet." 

"  I  have  lots  of  crackers  outside,"  said  Phil ; 
"  but  we  won't  fire  them  off  now.  They  will  do 
for  the  small  fellows  to-night.  Let  us  go  to  the 
stable,  and  pay  our  respects  to  Napoleon,  and 
Old  Pudding-head.  They  will  think  themselves 
quite  neglected  on  this  glorious  occasion." 

So  they  sallied  off  to  the  stable,  and  saddled 
the  pony  and  the  donkey,  and  led  them  out  to 
the  play-ground,  where  Napoleon  treated  them 
in  turn  to  a  very  fine  dance  on  his  hind  legs, 
and  Old  Pudding-head,  not  to  be  behindhand  in 
politeness,  gave  all  the  little  boys  a  somerset 
over  his  nose.  They  had  a  first-rate  frolic,  and 
did  not  think  once  of  the  lost  fireworks. 

After  dinner,  and  a  fine  dinner  they  had  of 
chickens,  and  goose  pie,  and  custard,  Mr.  Har- 


CHEISTMAS   STOELES.  137 

rison  took  the  boys  (little  Edwin  too)  down  into 
the  village,  where  a  band  of  musicians  were 
playing  and  parading  through  the  street.  Every 
little  while  they  wonld  stop  playing  and  hurra  ! 
The  boys  always  hurraed  when  the  band  did,  for 
boys  in  general  are  not  slow  about  making  a 
noise.  So  they  made  all  the  noise  they  possibly 
could,  and  came  back  to  tea,  each  one  so  hoarse, 
that  Mrs.  Harrison  asked  them  if  they  had  bull- 
frogs in  their  throats. 

At  last  the  evening  came,  and  a  still  and 
beautiful  evening  it  was.  The  stars  peeped  out, 
one  by  one,  and  the  moon  staid  in — that  is,  she 
did  not  make  her  appearance  until  very  late. 
They  could  not  have  had  a  finer  night  for  the 
grand  display. 

The  family  were  all  assembled  on  the  lawn, 
and  Mr.  Harrison  fixed  the  wheels  so  nicely,  that 
+hey  whizzed  round  in  the  most  astonishing  man- 
ner. The  Roman  candles  went  up  beautifully, 
and  the  grasshoppers  and  snakes  sent  the  little 


138  aunt  fanny's 

fellows  laughing  and  scampering  in  all  direc- 
tions. 

The  hurraing  was  tremendous,  and  the  shouts 
of  laughter  were  tremendous  too. 

Altogether  they  had  a  very  nice  time,  and 
went  off  to  bed  tired,  it  is  true,  but  highly 
pleased  with  the  day's  enjoyment — all  except 
little  Edwin.  He  sighed  many  times,  and  could 
hardly  get  to  sleep  ;  but  his  carelessness  was  a 
good  lesson  to  him,  for  it  afterwards  made  him 
the  most  careful  boy  in  the  school. 

After  the  glorious  Fourth,  the  boys  settled 
down  into  their  usual  employments.  Their  gar- 
dens were  carefully  tended,  and  many  a  fine 
cucumber  and  bunch  of  radishes  were  presented 
with  pride  and  pleasure  to  Mrs.  Harrison.  They 
ate  pumpkin  pie  made  with  their  own  pumpkins, 
and  thought  them  the  most  delicious  pumpkins 
that  ever  grew ;  and  their  melons  were  the 
sweetest  melons  they  ever  tasted  in  all  their 
lives. 


CHEISTMAS    STOKIES.  139 

They  were  very  attentive  in  school  also,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  term,  when  the  "boys  were  pre- 
paring to  go  home  for  the  vacation,  they  all  said, 
it  was  the  pleasantest  term  they  had  ever  spent 
together.  They  parted  with  their  kind  teacher 
with  many  thanks  for  his  kindness,  and  hopes 
that  after  vacation,  all  would  meet  together  again, 
and  be  happy  and  glad  to  come, 


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